the Substitute Husband
by Brown Eyes Parker
Summary: When Lisbon's groom leaves her high and dry at the altar, she needs somebody to take his place. And who's the best option but her consultant? And what happens, when their "strictly business" turns into love? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**I. Hawaii and "Maybe Some Other Time"**

"So, I was reading online last night about this place in Hawaii. It's called the Seven Sacred Pools. You slide down this waterfall, into a pool of water that feels like a million kisses all over your body," Patrick Jane told Teresa Lisbon and her fiancé, Emmett Oliver.

Lisbon looked intrigued. "Really? A million kisses all over your body?" she closed her eyes and sighed, like she was there. "That must feel amazing."

"It probably does," Jane agreed, turning to Emmett. "So, anyways. . . I know that this is short notice. You're getting married in a week. But I didn't have a chance to buy Lisbon a wedding gift. I would love to pay for you two to go visit this place. . . before or after your honeymoon."

Lisbon's eyes widened. "Jane. . . I – we – couldn't ask you to do that! That's way too generous—"

"I'm not talking to you right now," Jane cut her off, he looked back at Emmett. "So? How about it?"

"Didn't Teresa tell you?" Emmett asked. "I'm sure she would have."

"What did you tell me Lisbon?" Jane asked, glancing over at Lisbon.

"I didn't tell you anything," Lisbon answered. "Come on Emmett, we have dinner reservations in twenty minutes. We don't want to lose them."

"What _didn't _you tell me?" Persisted Jane.

"That Emmett and I aren't going on a honeymoon," Lisbon answered quickly. "I didn't need to tell you, because you would have found out when I came into work the day after the wedding. Now, come on Emmett—"

"Sorry honey, but I have to be somewhere right now." Emmett pressed a hasty kiss on her forehead. "A late meeting. . . they let me go for thirty minutes so I could come check in on you. But I promised them that I'd come right back. So. . . maybe we can meet for lunch tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow Jane and I are taking the team out for lunch," Lisbon answered slowly. "But Jane can manage by himself. Can't you Jane?"

"Sure," Jane said. "I mean, we are talking about three adults here. Not a dozen screaming kindergartners. Right?"

She smiled. "Of course. Right. Emmett, lunch tomorrow. . . sounds wonderful."

"Okay then, goodnight Teresa." Emmett turned to Jane and shook his hand. "Jane."

"So?" Jane asked after Emmett had left.

"So, do you want to join me for dinner?" Lisbon replied. "The reservation is under my name. And it'll make up for my skipping lunch with you tomorrow. I mean, do you have plans for tonight? If not—"

"I'd love to join you for dinner," Jane said. "Come on, I'm paying."

"And the stupid thing is, I still want to marry him, inspite of everything that's wrong with him," Lisbon said as they ate dessert.

"The heart wants what the heart wants," Jane answered. "Consequences be cursed."

"Except, I don't know if my heart wants him," Lisbon replied in a low voice. "My mind's telling me that he's the right choice."

"Even though he doesn't seem to care a thing about you or your desires and needs?" Jane asked, almost angrily.

"Yes," Lisbon answered.

"Well then, good luck to you. I hope you two are very happy together."

"You must think I'm crazy."

"No," Jane said. "I'd only think you were crazy if there were men lined up around the block, vying for your attention, and you were ignoring all of them for _Emmett_."

Lisbon smiled. "I like Emmett."

"You said _like_ not _love_," Jane pointed out.

"Well, there aren't many people that I love," Lisbon answered. "And I love you more than any other person that I know."

"Well, don't let Emmett hear you say that. He's already jealous of you and I. He's convinced that we're having a scandalous affair."

"You and me?" Lisbon asked. "Me and you?"

"You'd only be confirming what he already thinks he knows."

"What do you mean?"

"If you tell Emmett that you love me more than anybody."

A song started to play and Lisbon smiled at Jane. "Do you want to dance?"

Jane shook his head. "Not tonight. . . maybe some other time?"

"Like never. Right?"

"I didn't say that," Jane said.

"But you were thinking it," Lisbon replied. "I've known you long enough to know what you're thinking."

Jane leaned over the table and kissed her cheek. "Good night Lisbon. Go home and get some rest. I'll see you first thing in the morning."

"I'll pay my half of the bill," Lisbon said. "No, I'll pay all of it. I asked you—"

"I said I'd pay, and I'm going to pay. What kind of man would I be if I didn't keep my word?"

"You'd be Patrick Jane," Lisbon answered, standing up anyways. "The man you've always been. Good night Jane. I'll see you in the morning."


	2. Chapter 2

_I just want to thank EVERYBODY who has reviewed for me. You guys are awesome. It was so awesome, I decided to post chapter 2 before my regular posting date. Hope you enjoy it._

**II. Abandonment and "Will You Marry Me?"**

**ONE WEEK LATER:**

_July 10__th__, 2010 _

"How could he do this to me RIGHT before the ceremony?" Lisbon asked Van Pelt, who was her Maid of Honor.

"I don't know," Van Pelt answered. "The last time I saw of him was at the rehearsal dinner last night. And he was with Jane."

"Of course!" Lisbon said. "This has _Jane_ written ALL over it!"

"Maybe not," Van Pelt replied.

"Go and—"

"Lisbon?" Jane called through the door.

"Speak of the Devil," she muttered.

"Are you decent? There are a lot of people out here waiting for you. And you're running fifteen minutes late."

"Oh yeah?" Lisbon flung the door open. "Well, you probably already know why!"

"No!" Jane protested. "I actually just got here!"

She dragged him into the room and slammed the door behind her. "Why were you talking to Emmett last night?"

Jane looked confused. "_Emmett_? As in your fiancé Emmett?"

"Exactly my fiancé Emmett!" Lisbon grabbed him by his tuxedo lapels. "What did you say to make him not show up today? What did you _do_? Did you hypnotize him? Did you tell him that you were in love with me? Did you tell him that I was secretly in love with you? Or about my past relationships?"

"All I told him was that he better take good care of you! " Jane replied, trying to shake Lisbon from her death grip on him. "Good grief! Why do you always have to turn bad things on me?"

"Hey guys?" Kimball Cho asked through the doorway. "The minister's waiting for you. . . can I tell him that you'll be right there?"

"Give us five minutes!" Lisbon replied.

"Five minutes? You need five minutes to think of something to say to your wedding guests?" Jane asked. "I could get them to go away in two seconds. Then, I'll take you home, you can get changed, and we'll go out and get drunk—"

"Not so fast!" Lisbon said, tightening her grip on him. "I don't think I could—"

"My dear, you'll get a lot further with me if we can sit down and discuss this in a civilized manner. I'm about to die of suffocation."

"Oh. . . sorry." Lisbon let go.

Jane took her hand and led her over to a couch. "Now, what is that you wanted to say?"

"Jane, I don't want to go out there and tell everybody I was dumped. All of my friends and family will say that—"

"What they've been saying all along," Jane finished for her when he saw her hesitation. "Of course he broke things off with you. You always push away the men who want to be close to you. It's your own fault, really. You'll die alone—"

"Okay, that's enough!" Lisbon said, closing his lips. "Hearing it from you is even worse than hearing it from them. If you really have to know, yes, that's what they'll say. They've been saying it for years."

"So?" Jane smiled. "Do you want me to hypnotize them so they don't think that anymore? It might take a while, but for you. . . I'll do—"

"You can't hypnotize my wedding guests!" Lisbon answered, trying to look appalled, but smiling at the thought all the same.

"Then what?" Jane asked desperately. "Just ask, and I'll do anything for you!"

"Okay," she said, getting off the couch and kneeling down in front of him. "Patrick Jane, will you pretty, please with cherries and chocolate sauce on top marry me?"

Van Pelt's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her bouquet to muffle her gasp.

Jane stood up. "I'll do anything but _that_."

"Please?" Lisbon pleaded, crawling after him and grabbing his leg. "None of my friends and family has ever met Emmett. They wouldn't know the difference—"

"But Hightower and the rest of the team would," Jane said, not exactly shaking her off, but trying for Van Pelt's sake. "They've all met Emmett."

"But they wouldn't care!"

Van Pelt shook her head, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. She had always thought that Jane would be the best man for Lisbon, and she had been disappointed when Emmett had come into the picture.

"Please Jane? Please?" Lisbon begged. "If you marry me, I'll. . . I'll see that you. . . that you get a pay raise! _Please_!"

"Guys?" Cho's voice came through the doorway.

"I'll see if Cho will agree to be my best man then," Jane said, losing all of his reasons for saying no, when Lisbon's pleading green eyes met his. He had always had a weakness for her eyes. "And forget about the pay raise, I'll just do this for you."

"We can get an annulment in a year or two," Lisbon promised, allowing Jane to help her to her feet. "Thank you so much!"

"Fine! And I won't tell anybody about your embarrassing proposal."

"What embarrassing proposal?" Lisbon asked.

Jane just smiled at her and brushed a gentle kiss on her lips, a kiss that sealed their deal, but didn't say anything about their feelings for each other. Then, he was gone before she could react to him at all.

"What's going on?" Madeline Hightower asked Wayne Rigsby when Jane came out of the back room with Cho. "Where's Emmett? Why's Jane up there?"

Rigsby shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that Jane and Lisbon have a good explanation for this."

"Of course they do," Hightower muttered. "They always have an explanation for everything. Even things that don't have explanations."

"There's nothing in the rule book about an agent getting together with a consultant. Is there?" Rigsby asked as _Pachelbel Canon in D_ began to play and they got to their feet.

"No," Hightower whispered. "But Jane and Lisbon? I mean, am I missing something here?"

Again, Rigsby shrugged.

"I mean, yeah. . . I know they have some sort of strange connection, and that they really do like each other. And I did think that it was a mistake for Lisbon to marry Emmett. I thought it from the start, but. . . I thought it would be a while before the two of them made a match. Like—"

"Will you please be quiet?" Somebody behind them hissed.

"Sorry," Rigsby mouthed, throwing a pointed look at Hightower.

Hightower got the point and closed her mouth.

'

"Thank you for coming," Lisbon said happily. "Aunt Bea, this is my. . ."

"Patrick Jane," Jane came in quickly. He looked at Lisbon and added helpfully, "Her _husband_."

"Such a pleasure to meet you! And you're such a handsome young man! No wonder Teresa never brought you around to meet us. She always said you were too busy, but now the truth came out—"

"Aunt Bea!" Lisbon's cheerful attitude fading right away. "Look over there, it's Tommy and Liz!"

"I know. I came over with them on the plane." But Aunt Bea got the hint and wondered off.

"Emmett was always '_to _busy' to go and meet your family and friends?" Jane asked.

"Be quiet," Lisbon replied, blushing.

"If I were really your fiancé, I would have made time to meet all of your friends and family—"

"Alba! I'm so glad you could come!" Lisbon said, cutting him off. "This is Patrick Jane, my husband. Jane. . . I mean, Patrick, this is Alba Roberts. She's my best friend from high school."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you," Jane said. "I'm glad to know that Teresa was close to somebody in high school."

"What's that supposed to mean Darling?" Alba asked, turning her attention over to Lisbon. "You were close to somebody in high school?"

"Oh, that's just Jane being Jane." Lisbon's eyes widened. "I mean, that's just Patrick being Patrick."

"Right. Well. . ." Alba winked at Lisbon. "If you want to get together when you get back from the honeymoon, I'm living in California now, so you and Patrick should give us a call."

"Us?" Lisbon asked.

"I got married, have three kids now actually."

"And another one on the way," Jane said.

"Yes, how'd you know? Are you psychic?" Alba asked getting excited.

Jane smiled. "No such thing, just a lucky guess."

"Hey, Teresa. . . this one, he's a keeper. Don't screw this one up again. Congratulations!" And then, Alba sashayed off too.

Jane looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't get a chance to because another guest, a pretty Asian girl was making their way over to them.

"I'm Violet Chung, Teresa's adopted cousin. It's so good to meet you. We never thought that she'd ever meet Mr. Right. Of course, we were all happy when she did." Violet took a deep breath. "So, anyways. . . how'd you two meet?"

"Well," Lisbon began uncertainly. "We met. . . we met—"

"At work," Jane finished for her. "You see. . . I was married before this, but my wife and daughter were killed—"

"Jane," Lisbon whispered. "You don't have to do this. Please—"

He shook his head and went on. "They were killed by a serial killer named Red John—"

"OH MY GOSH! You're _the_ Patrick Jane!" Violet shouted. "OH MY GOSH! TERESA! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH YOU MARRIED THE MAN WHO HELPED YOU CATCH RED JOHN! YOU MARRIED THE MAN WHO SAVED YOUR LIFE! OH MY GOSH!"

"Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" Jane asked, trying to hush her because the other wedding guests were staring at him with a sense of awe and reverence.

"Oh right, right. It's just that we've heard SO much about you. Teresa does nothing but sing your praises, except sometimes she complains about you. But mostly what she says is all good. Anyways. . . go on."

"So, my wife and daughter were killed by Red John. After that, I tried to. . . well, you know. And then I got better. After that, I needed to do something with my life. So, I signed up to work at the CBI. And Lisbon signed up to work with me."

"Really?" Violet sighed dreamily.

"It wasn't because of anything romantic! I signed up to work with him because he closes cases!"

"Of course, we liked each other right from the start. She was easy to talk to, and I could tell her things that I couldn't tell anyone else. Things that I had _never_ told anybody else. She really understood, and if she didn't. . . she tried to understand. Or she pretended that she understood. And, although she'll never admit to this, I knew her. . . and I understood her. And she liked that. But we wouldn't say so immediately. I mean, we seriously danced around the issue for five years. And then, last year. . . things changed. Things really, really changed."

"He asked me out, I said yes; six weeks later we were engaged!" Lisbon said quickly.

"What she said," Jane agreed.

"Wow!" Violet grabbed their hands.

"Yeah. . . _wow_," Lisbon said quietly.

"Tell me about the proposal! I want to know how he proposed, I want to know where he proposed, I want to know—"

"Hey guys! Are you ready for your first dance as husband and wife?" Van Pelt asked, coming up to them. "Rigsby picked the perfect song for the two of you."

"Will you excuse us?" Jane asked Violet, taking Lisbon by the hand and leading her to the dance floor.

_More Than Words _started to play, and Rigsby came up behind them, beaming. "Sound familiar?"

"Very," Jane replied, taking Lisbon into his arms and beginning to dance with her slowly.

**TBC. . .**

_Author's Note 2:_

_You can look on my profile, I have a link posted to my YouTube account, where I have a playlist set up for this story._

_Please, read & review. I really appreciate your feedback._


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's chapter 3. . . hope you like it. _

_Shout outs to my awesome reviewers, Jisbon4ever, Lisbon94, Lis, Pheonixmagic1, lisbon69, ChiisanaMinnako, Frogster, Anna, and Country2766. Thank you!_

**III. Explanations and Surprise Honeymoons**

"Now, there's nothing wrong with you two marrying each other. It's not like Mr. Jane works for us officially or anything, but I want to know why you two got married exactly," Hightower said.

"Why?" Lisbon asked. "So, you can punish me even more than you already do? So, you can find a reason to fire me? Because I am responsible for Jane's actions, right?"

"Agent Lisbon, get a hold of yourself. No, I can't do anything to you for marrying Mr. Jane. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. There's nothing in the rule book about you two getting married. He's just a consultant. It's not like Jane broke into somebody's house without a warrant to look for evidence. It's not like he was manipulative, or anything. By the way, _did _he manipulate you into marrying him?"

"No, I asked him to marry _me_," Lisbon answered. "He didn't think it was a great idea to begin with."

"Okay, let's start all over again then. Agent Lisbon, why did you marry Jane? Why didn't you marry Emmett?"

"Emmett. . . Emmett left me, without any explanation," Lisbon replied slowly. "I couldn't bear the humiliation of having to tell my friends and family that another man had dumped me. So, I made it look like that Jane was the man I was supposed to marry all along."

"What about the programs? They must have given away that Jane isn't Emmett."

"You didn't notice that there weren't any programs? They were an expense that Emmett said was unnecessary."

"If you were marrying me to begin with, I would have let you have programs. I would have let you spend all the money you wanted on programs."

Lisbon shot him a look that said, _shut up_. Then she turned back to Hightower. "If you'd excuse me, I have paperwork leftover from the weekend to do."

"You don't have a honeymoon you'd like to go on?" Hightower asked.

"It was another one of those expenses that Emmett thought were unnecessary," Lisbon answered.

"Maybe you got the better end of the stick then."

Lisbon smiled and looked at Jane. "Sure I did. I got _him_."

"Hey, that was your own fault!" Jane answered. "I was ready to go out there and tell everybody there wasn't going to be a wedding."

She sighed, like it was something they had gone through a million times already. "Yeah, but I told you. . . I'd rather marry you than be humiliated in front of all my friends and family."

"Why select when you can settle?" He replied sarcastically. "Although marrying Emmett certainly wouldn't have been selecting—"

"I'll see you at lunch Jane," Lisbon snapped. "Don't bother me until then."

Jane turnedto Hightower. "Do you mind if she and I take a little time off? I want to give her a honeymoon."

"I don't mind," Hightower said. "I think she could use the time off. It'll be good for her. And since you two haven't done anything together, except for work, it might be a good thing for you to rekindle your relationship. It started diminishing when you had that little thing with Kristina Frye. And once Emmett hit the scene, it was gone."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Jane replied, ignoring the fact that she had brought up his very short relationship with Kristina Frye.

"So, where are you planning to take her?" Hightower asked, trying to act disinterested but her body language was giving her away. She knew that Jane had lots of money, and that whatever Jane did for Lisbon would be spectacular.

"Well, I was thinking a month in Hawaii. There's this place called—"

"A month!" Hightower exclaimed. "I don't think this unit could deal with your being away for a month. We depend way too much on you and Agent Lisbon."

"Okay, not a month then. Two weeks." Jane said.

"Sounds reasonable," she agreed. "When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as possible," Jane answered. "Today, if we can."

"Well, just fill out the proper paperwork and we'll see you when you get back."

"Sure." Jane glanced at the clock behind Hightower's desk. "Do you mind if I keep Lisbon here and take Van Pelt with me while I go and get all the details worked out?"

"As long as Van Pelt is back here by lunch time."

"Thank you!" He called, rushing out of the office. "See you when we get back!"

"And have a good time!"

"Why did you bring me with you exactly?" Van Pelt asked as she and Jane walked around a high-end fashion boutique.

"Well, I figured since you were Lisbon's Maid of Honor, you'd know her sizes, and style, and things."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I need you to pick things for a trousseau. I'd do it myself, but I have other things that need to be done."

"A trousseau?" Van Pelt's face lit up. "You're taking her on a honey moon! _Where_?"

"To Hawaii," Jane answered. "You stay here and pick things out while I go and make a few phone calls. Don't pick out too much though, just in case she wants to do some shopping when we get to Hawaii."

Van Pelt nodded eagerly and immediately started to pull things off the rack.

**.**

Four hours later, Jane and Van Pelt arrived at CBI headquarters in a limo.

"Okay," Jane said. "Go in there and tell Lisbon that I'm waiting to take her out for lunch. If she protests, text me, but don't say anything. Just let her think she's getting her way."

Van Pelt nodded. "I will. Bon Voyage. I'll see you when you get back. Behave yourself."

"Thank you Grace. You behave yourself too."

Van Pelt laughed and then stuck her head back in the door. "By the way, what does _Bon Voyage_ mean anyways?"

"Bon Voyage means good journey in French," Jane answered. "Now go on! The plane leaves in two hours!"

"What are you doing Jane?" Lisbon asked. "What's up with this limo?"

Jane just smiled and patted the seat beside him. "Get in."

"Are we going to lunch? Are we going to lunch in a limo?"

"Just get in," Jane said.

"I want to know what's going on," Lisbon replied. "Do you know that they took my gun away from me before I left the office? And they said; _see you when you get back Mrs. Jane. Have a good time. _Now, what was that all about?"

"You shouldn't carry it around unless you're on the job anyways." Jane said, ignoring her other comment.

"If I don't carry it around, how am I going to protect _you_ when you get into trouble?"

"Meh. I'm a big boy; I can take care of myself. And now that you're Mrs. Jane, I think it's time that I start protecting _you_. Not you protecting me."

"You're always protect me. . . in your own way—"

Jane grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her into the limo gently. "Come on, Mrs. Jane. . . we're wasting time."

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me where we're going and what we're doing!" Lisbon protested.

Jane took a tie out from a bag and put it around her eyes. "Hush woman! It's a surprise."

She moaned. "I hate Jane surprises."

"I promise you'll like this one."

"Do I really have to be blind-folded?"

"Yes, and if you don't stop talking, I'll put duct tape over your mouth too."

"Then, I'll divorce you for domestic abuse."

"Meh. I'll take my chances. You're going to get this marriage annulled in a year or two anyways." Jane closed the door. "You can go now Franko, but please go as quickly as the speed limit allows. Or we'll be late."

"Yes Mr. Jane."

Lisbon sighed and settled into the seat beside Jane. Trying hard not to reach out and punch him as hard as she could.

"Hey, relax! This is going to be fun," Jane said, reaching out to take her hand. He rubbed circles into her knuckles with his thumb. And then, he caressed each finger gently with his lips. It was so quick Lisbon thought she imagined it.

"Okay," Lisbon whispered, resting under his touch and finding herself hoping that he wouldn't let go for a long while.

"We're here," Jane said after an hour. He leaned over and took her blindfold off.

"Jane, this is the _airport_," Lisbon replied, staring in disbelief.

"I'm not stupid. I know." He smiled at her. "Come on, we have to have hurry. My friend won't wait for us much longer."

"Wait a minute! Your friend?" Lisbon asked following him out of the limo, and stopping him. "What are you talking about?"

"I called in a favor," Jane answered. "So, we're taking our trip on a private jet."

"Wait, _what_ trip?" Lisbon asked. "What favor? What friend?"

"If I explain it all to you, will you shut up?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Okay then. We're going to Hawaii with my friend and his wife on their private jet. He owed me a favor from a long time ago, when I reconnected him and his wife."

"Oh." Lisbon nodded with a knowing smile. "More psychic stuff?"

"You promised me that you wouldn't ask any more questions," Jane said. "But no, it wasn't psychic stuff. It was just me and my wife being good friends. My friend was so happy that we helped him work things out with his wife that he promised me that he'd do anything he could for me. I've never had an opportunity to take him up on his offer. Until now."

Lisbon smiled nervously. "But you said these people were. . . friends with you and your wife. They're not going to. . like me."

"They'll love you, I promise!" Jane assured her. "I swear his wife, Shani, has been trying to get me to date again for four years now—"

"Patrick! You son of a gun! Going off and getting married without inviting us to the wedding! Without so much of having the courtesy to tell us that you were getting married!"

"It was sort of last minute," Jane answered, turning around and embracing the tall, black man coming up to him. "Really, a quick decision. You, Shani, and the kids would have been the first people on the guest list though. You know that—"

"Uncle Patrick!"

"Daisy!" Jane swung the little girl up in his arms and gave her a big bear hug. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too," Daisy said twirling one of his blonde curls around her little finger. "You haven't been to see us in a while."

"That's because I've been helping this woman catch bad guys," Jane replied, putting his arm around Lisbon's waist and pulling her closer. "And you know what?"

"What?" Daisy asked, her eyes widening.

"She and I, we got married this weekend. Daisy Cooper, this is Teresa Lis- Teresa _Jane_. Teresa, this is Daisy."

"Hi," Lisbon said, smiling.

"Hey," Daisy said, scrambling down from Jane's arms, and wrapping her arms around Lisbon's legs. "Are you my aunt now?"

"Would you like me to be your aunt?" Lisbon asked.

"Well, I guess. I mean, you're married to Uncle Patrick."

"Well, then. . . call me Aunt Teresa," Lisbon answered, smiling at Jane.

"Patrick Jane!"

"Uh, Lisbon. . . this is Shani," Jane said, introducing her to a tall, elegant black woman. "Shani, this is Lisbon, I mean. . . Teresa."

"I know, Tavis told me all about her. And the wedding you didn't invite us to."

"Totally last minute," Jane said quickly. "I'm going to help Tavis get the bags on the plane."

Shani turned to Lisbon. "Pleasure to meet you Teresa. This is my oldest, April. And that's my husband, Tavis." she looked down at Daisy, who was still glued to Lisbon's leg. "I can see that you already met Daisy."

"Yes. She's so sweet. It's so good to finally meet friends of Jane's. I mean, of Patrick's. I. . . I didn't actually think he had any. The way he went on, he acted like I was his only friend."

"Well, that's what he'd like you to think, isn't it?" Shani asked, glancing over at Jane and Tavis, who were unloading suitcases. "But he's not as much a loner as he'd like you to think. And he likes you, a lot. Whenever we've seen him lately, you're all he's talked about."

"Really?" Lisbon asked, looking at Jane. "What's he said?"

"Only good stuff," Shani assured her.

"Are you really the agent who caught Olivia and Bradli's killer?" April asked, speaking for the first time.

"April!" Shani looked appalled.

"No, it's okay!" Lisbon nodded. "Yes, I caught Jane's wife and daughter's killer."

April's face broke into a huge smile, and she threw her arms around Lisbon's neck. "Thank you!"

"Okay girls, leave Teresa alone!" Shani said, peeling Daisy off her legs.

Lisbon smiled and put her arm around April's shoulder. "So. . . how old are you April?"

"I'm going to be fourteen in two weeks. Dad and Mom are taking me to Hawaii to celebrate."

"But don't worry; we'll leave you and Patrick alone completely!" Shani hurried on to assure her.

"Oh! Well, you don't have to—"

"Sweetie, it's your honeymoon. Of course, we _have_ to—"

"The bags are on the plane, and the pilot has flight clearance. So, we're free to take off." Tavis said, coming up to them and planting a kiss on his wife's neck. Then, he turned to smile at Lisbon. "Hi, I'm Tavis Cooper. You must be Teresa. It's good to meet you."

"It's good to meet you too," Lisbon replied, holding her hand out so that Tavis could shake it.

"You know, you didn't do her justice Patrick. She's even prettier than you made her out to be."

"Don't I know it though," Jane answered, coming back over to Lisbon and giving April a quick hug. "Hello beautiful. Broken any hearts lately?"

"Uncle Patrick," April said, blushing.

Lisbon shook her head. "Jane, leave her alone."

"Jane?" Shani asked.

"You know, couples and their nicknames for each other," Jane said quickly. "I call her Lisbon sometimes. . . it's just. . . a thing."

Shani nodded and picked Daisy up. "Come on April, Tavis. . . let's go and board the plane. We want to make good time." she threw a pointed look at Tavis. "Unlike the last time, when we went to Russia."

"The Queen has spoken," Jane said to Lisbon, putting his arm around her waist. "We better obey her, or risk her wrath."

"She's not _that _bad," Tavis said as he was passing them to catch up with his wife.

"Of course you'd say that. She's your wife." Jane winked at him. "You don't want to get on her bad side."

Tavis just rolled his eyes. He took Shani by the hand and squeezed her hand intimately. Shani's eyes lit up, and she leaned over to peck his cheek. None of this exchange was lost on Lisbon, she saw all of it. Usually, such public displays of affection would depress her. But the warm pressure from Jane's arm on the small of her back, and the comfortable way he had pulled her close made it all the easier to watch. For the first time in a while, she didn't feel an insane jealousy pulling her down.

**TBC. . .**


	4. Chapter 4

_Shout-outs go to:_

_Phoenixmagic1, Jisbon4ever, Anna, Frogster, Country2776, Lisbon94_

_No, Jane won't be surfing in this chapter. But he'll have his shirt off. . . use your imaginations ladies. And if you need oxygen, call 911 (LOL)._

**IV. "Getting to Know You. . ."**

"So, what are your plans once you get to Hawaii?" Shani asked Lisbon after they had been flying for a few hours.

Lisbon shrugged. "I don't know. Patrick planned this whole thing, you see. It was a total surprise. I mean, I didn't even know about Hawaii, or a honeymoon, or you guys until we got here."

"You didn't know you were going on a honeymoon?" Shani looked surprised. "That's unusual. Most brides at least know about that part—"

"I don't know if Patrick told you this, but I'm _very_ dedicated to my work."

She nodded. "He did mention that."

"Yeah," Lisbon said, nodding. "So, we agreed that. . . we wouldn't go on a honeymoon."

"So, this was a bad surprise for you then?"

Lisbon looked over at Jane, who was playing _Quelf_ with Tavis, April, and Daisy. She smiled gently and shook her head. "No Shani, this was a wonderful surprise for me."

"Why do you think Patrick chose Hawaii for your honeymoon?" Shani asked glancing over in the direction that Lisbon was staring.

"Oh, because there's this place in Hawaii called the Seven Sacred Pools. When you're in it, it feels like a million kisses all over your body. He just told me about it last week, and he wanted to go right away. But I had last minute wedding details to wrap up, and paperwork to file. You know typical stuff like that."

"You know him very well, don't you?"

"I've known him for six years," Lisbon answered. "I should _know_ him."

Shani smiled. "You really love him, don't you?"

Lisbon was startled. "_Love_ him? Of course, I love him. In fact, I love him more than anybody."

"No, love him, love him," Shani replied. "Like the kind of love you hear about on movies and in books, and love songs."

"Oh. . . I've never really thought about it," Lisbon said, laughing slightly. "Love him. . . of course I love him. I mean, I married him. Right?"

Shani's smile was a little more reserved this time. "Of course you love him. Excuse me for asking such a personal question."

"No! It's okay. You have a right to wonder. . . I mean, he has been through a lot in his life. And you don't want to see him get hurt again."

"I don't think you're going to hurt him," Shani said. "I think he found another soul mate in you."

"There's no such thing as soul mates," Lisbon replied.

"MMH. . . but you can get pretty close."

"You're so sure?"

"Yes." Shani glanced at her watch. "Oh, wow. . . nine 'o clock. It's time to get Daisy ready for bed."

"She can sleep on the plane?"

"You'd be surprised." Shani answered. "She can sleep anywhere. Daisy! Bedtime, boo!"

"But mom—"

"No _buts_. It's _bedtime_!" Shani replied.

"Come on Lisbon!" Jane called. "Come and take Daisy's place!"

"No, that's okay," Lisbon said. "I have a book to read, and about twelve hours of sleep to catch up on—"

"Come on Auntie Tess! It's fun!" April chimed in with Jane's pleading.

"Come on," Jane said. "I'll let you win."

"Uncle Patrick!" April said, sounding horrified.

Lisbon looked at Shani, who nodded her head encouragingly, and then she went over to join the group. She rolled her eyes at Jane and took a seat next to him. "If you cheat so I can win, you'll be sorry."

"Okay, I'll cheat so April can win then."

"You'll be sorry," April parroted.

"Oh, I'll be sorry?" Jane asked. "You and Aunt Tess will be sorry when I cream the two of you."

"You have some competition," Tavis said. "You seem to forget, that I'm playing with you guys. And I'm a fierce competitor."

"Oh, how could I forget?" Jane answered. "You've given me a run for my money on more than several occasions. But Cooper, you forget who you're playing against."

"The Mentalist, yeah, yeah," Tavis said. "That got old about fifteen years ago."

"It may be old, but I'll still beat you." Jane smiled. "Ask Lisbon."

"Is it true Tess?" Tavis asked. "Will Jane really beat me?"

"Well, you should be able to answer that," Lisbon said. "But the answer's yes. He'll beat you. I've seen him do. . . things you wouldn't believe."

"Tess could just entertain us with stories all night," Tavis said. "We don't even have to play _Quelf_."

"Daddy," April pleaded.

"Fine," Tavis conceded. "One more game of _Quelf_, then you Agent Lisbon-Jane has to fill us in on everything that Patrick hasn't filled us in on."

"Oooh! Count me in!" Shani said, coming out of the bathroom with an already sleeping Daisy in her arms.

**.**

Lisbon rested her head on Jane's shoulder two hours later and sighed contentedly. "Good night."

Jane looked over at Shani and Tavis, who were squeezed into one chair and already sleeping, he smiled and brushed a kiss on top of Lisbon's head. "Good night, darling. Good night April!"

April stuck her head out from under her blanket. "Good night Auntie Tess. Uncle Patrick."

At 6am, they were in Hawaii. Jane and Tavis went to rent cars while Lisbon and Shani watched over the luggage. They decided to check into their hotel, which was an hour away from the airport, and then get breakfast together. Afterwards, they would go their separate ways.

"Don't be mad, but. . . I could only get reservations for one hotel room," Jane said to Lisbon when they were alone. "I tried to get two rooms, but the woman I made reservations with, wouldn't hear of a Mr. and a Mrs. having separate rooms. I couldn't even charm my way out of that one."

Lisbon shrugged. "I'm not mad. I mean, it's not like you did it on purpose. Right?"

"Of course not." Jane looked up at the top that was covering their car. "I don't know about you, but I feel like watching the sunrise while we drive. Do you mind if I put the top down?"

Lisbon smiled at him. "What good would a convertible in Hawaii be if the top weren't down?"

"Good point." Jane put the top down, and turned back to Lisbon. His breath caught in his throat as the early sun reflected off the ocean and caught Lisbon's hair, as the sunlight captured her green yes. "Wow!"

"Wow what?" Lisbon asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"You look beautiful. . ."

Lisbon looked at Jane, and was caught off guard too as the sunlight made his hair look blonder, and the ocean made his eyes look bluer. Her heart stopped. "You. . . you look beautiful too."

They both turned away, embarrassed. Jane tried to concentrate on the road and following Tavis, while Lisbon tried to concentrate on the passing scenery. Both trying to ignore a glaring truth. . . that this trip was going to change their lives, and their relationship with each other. . . forever.

**TBC. . .**


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry for the misunderstand ladies. This is the chapter where Patrick Jane has his shirt off. Again, use your imaginations. . . and call 911 if you lose all ability to breathe._

_Thanks to the girls who reviewed my last chapter. I love you guys. _

**V. A Million Kisses and Finally Time**

"Come on Lisbon," Jane coaxed. "Don't be afraid. . . I'm right here, I'll even catch you if you'd like."

Lisbon peeked down the waterfall that led to the water and clutched her towel around her body a little more tightly. "I'm not afraid of sliding into the water."

"Then what is it?" Jane asked.

"I haven't worn a bathing suit in front of anybody in years. And every time I have worn one, I've been covered up by shorts and a tank-top."

"I won't look then," Jane said, making a pretense of slapping his hand over his face.

"Okay." Lisbon dropped the towel and slipped out of her flip-flops. Jane stole a swift glance of her in the modest, red, two piece that Van Pelt had selected, before hastily covering his eyes again. "I'm coming down! Don't look Jane!"

Jane opened his eyes, so he could see her reaction when she hit the water.

"_Jane_!" She squealed as she slid down the waterfall, he held his arms open and she fell into them, taking them both under the water. After a couple of minutes, they both surfaced, Jane holding her securely in his arms, bridal style. She smiled. "You're right. . . this does feel like a million kisses all over your body. It's wonderful!"

"Do you really like it?" Jane asked.

"I love it," Lisbon answered sincerely. "This is the best gift you've ever given me."

"I'm glad you like it," he said quietly.

Lisbon caught her breath, knowing what was going to happen next. . . praying that it would happen next. But then, it didn't, he gently put her down in the water, and dunked under the water. She shook the feeling off quickly. . . it wasn't supposed to be like that anyways. They were supposed to be married in name only, and she couldn't mess that up. Not if she wanted to face a divorce instead of an annulment when their year agreement came to a close.

.

"There's only one bed," Lisbon said.

"I'm not blind, I have eyes Lisbon," Jane replied. "I saw that this morning, and I asked the guy at the front desk to have housekeeping send a cot."

"Oh really? How did you explain _that one_?"

"I borrowed Daisy and said that I needed it for my niece."

"Really?"

"Really," Jane answered.

Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "Well, where's the cot?"

"I don't know, maybe they haven't sent it yet."

"Apparently Jane, because it would be here, and we could actually see it—"

"Aunt Tessie? Uncle Patrick?" Daisy's voice came through the doorway. "It's me and April. We were wondering if you'd like to get some ice cream with us?"

"Where are your dad and mom?" Jane asked, going over to the door and opening it.

"They sent us away," April said, smiling knowingly.

"Well, then why don't you come in and we'll order room service," Jane said. "It's a little too late to go out right now. Actually, why don't we just call your parents and see if you can spend the night with us?"

"Really?" April asked, glancing at Lisbon. "You don't mind Auntie Tess?"

Lisbon smiled at Jane. "No, of course I don't mind. I'll order the ice cream, what kind do you want?"

"I'll have a Kona Coffee ice cream with toasted coconut, and Daisy will have chocolate" April said, before Daisy could speak.

Lisbon nodded and looked at Jane, who was talking to Tavis on his cell phone. "What about you Jane? Do you want anything?"

"Get me whatever you're having," Jane answered.

"That was surprisingly easy," Lisbon said to April, trying to conceal her shock.

April looked puzzled. "Really? What do you mean?"

"I mean, usually Uncle Patrick is a lot more difficult than that," Lisbon answered.

"Oh, yeah. . . I know," April said. She smiled. "Maybe he likes you."

"No, because he's always liked me. . . and he's always been difficult."

"Well, maybe he likes you more than a friend now."

Lisbon bit back a smile. "Of course he likes me as more than a friend. We're married, aren't we?"

April grinned. "You should order the ice cream before it gets too late."

"Oh! Right!" Lisbon picked up the hotel phone and ordered a kiddy chocolate for Daisy and three Kona coffees on waffle cones with toasted coconut for the rest of them. Then she, April, and Daisy settled in to watch _the Suite Life on Deck_ while they waited for it to arrive. Eventually, Jane hung up the cell phone and came over to join them. She glanced at him. "Did you just hang up with Tavis?"

"No," he answered. "I called Cho to check up and tell him that we had gotten to Hawaii safely."

"And how are things?" Lisbon asked, as Daisy leaned into her, trying to get comfortable.

"Slow. Believe it or not, they didn't have any cases today."

"So? Don't act like they won't be able to get along without you—"

"Us," Jane corrected.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Don't act like they can't get on without _us_. They might—"

"Room service!" Somebody called.

She pointed to the door and ran her fingers through Daisy's hair. "Jane, go get that. . . would you?"

"Sure," Jane answered, getting up and going over to the door. "Hey, maybe they'll have that cot too—"

"Uncle Patrick, you silly man, you won't need a cot," April said. "Daisy and I'll sleep on the pullout bed."

"The _pullout _bed." Lisbon gave Jane a pointed look.

"Yeah. . . I wouldn't dream of asking you to give up sleeping with Aunt Teresa," April continued.

Lisbon blushed. "Well. . . thank you, that's very considerate April."

"You're ice cream is melting!"

Jane pulled the door open, accepted the tray of ice cream, and tipped the person who had brought it up to them. He gave Daisy her ice cream first and said, "Hurry up and eat that. It's getting late."

Daisy nodded and stifled a yawn. "But I'm not the least bit sleepy."

"Sure, and I'm king of the Jungle," Jane answered, pulling Daisy into his lap and trying to hold her, while he managed his own ice cream.

"Really Uncle Patrick, I'm not tired." This time Daisy yawned hard.

"It's been a long day," Jane said to Daisy. "Nobody will blame you if you are tired. And you won't be missing out on anything if you fall asleep. Well. . . except maybe for the mermaids."

"Mermaids?" Daisy asked, trying to take a bite of ice cream, but feeling tired to raise the spoon completely to her lips.

"Yeah, the mermaids," Jane answered. "They make a stop here in Hawaii about every hundred years."

"Where are they going?" Daisy asked, handing her ice cream to Lisbon.

"Fiji, I think," Jane replied.

"Well, then why stop here?"

"They have to learn the new love song," he answered.

Daisy made a face. "New love song?"

"Well, really. . . they're going to learn all sorts of new songs."

She giggled. "Uncle Patrick, you're silly."

"Silly?" He repeated. "How am I silly?"

"There isn't such a thing as mermaids," Daisy answered.

"There is too," Jane replied. "I saw one today, and she asked me to teach her my song."

"What song is that Jane?" Lisbon asked, looking slightly amused.

"_More than Words_," he answered, his blue eyes twinkling. He looked down at Daisy, who was sleeping soundly. "She's sleeping."

"That's okay," Lisbon said. "April and I got the bed ready while you were confusing her with your little story."

"I'll go put her to bed then," Jane said. "April, you better get ready for bed too. Like I said, we've all had a long day and tomorrow are going to be even busier."

April nodded and obediently went to prepare for bed.

Lisbon looked at Jane. "Come on, I'll help you tuck Daisy in."

**.**

"Stay on your side," Lisbon ordered Jane as they crawled into bed. "I mean it Jane, if you so much put a finger on my side of the bed—"

"SHH!" Jane pointed over to the couch, where April was still messing around, trying to get comfortable.

She lowered her voice. "I mean it Jane! So, don't even _test_ me."

Jane nodded. "On my word as a gentleman, I won't even look at you tonight."

"Excellent." She rolled over on her side and closed her eyes. "Good night Patrick."

"Good night Teresa," Jane replied.

When she thought that he was sleeping, she glanced over at him. He was on his back, lying perfectly still. Her lips twitched, and then she rolled back over, drifting off into a comfortable sleep almost right away.

But Jane couldn't sleep, his heartbeat was out of control, and his senses were filled with Lisbon. The tropical perfume she had purchased in the gift shop earlier that day was filling his nose with coconut, strawberries, and papaya. Totally not her, but totally her at the same time. The presence of another warm, human body next to him, her even breathing. . . it was enough to make him wash away into a comfortable dream land. But there was a presence. . . a presence that made it impossible to do so. It made it impossible to enjoy the company of another woman in his bed.

He lifted his left hand up and studied the gold band in the darkness. It was annoyingly heavy; it was burning into his finger. He slid it off his hand and studied it, turning it over and over between his fingers.

_It's time_. . . a voice that sounded like his wife's filled his head.

_It's time. . ._ a voice that sounded like Lisbon's agreed.

"_It's time. . ._" Jane whispered into the night. He slipped out of bed, and found his flip-flops, than he left the room quietly, and made his way down to the beach.

TBC. . .


	6. Chapter 6

_Shout-outs: LAurore, durichy, shepweir always, Jisbon4ever, Phoenixmagic1, , Frogster, Lisbon69, Anna, lynsjelonken, InTheName, Sabrina2808. . . thank you ladies. Reviews = Love! This chapter is dedicated to all of you._

**VI. Goodbye**

"Olivia?" Jane said, taking a step into the water. "It's time. . . I'm ready to move on. I love Lisbon now. And I think she may love me back. I just want you to know, you'll always be my first love. And that I never will forget you for as long as I live. But I want to live. Let me live. . ." he was in the ocean, up into his waist; he stopped and smiled, throwing his ring into the water as far as he could. "This is for you. . . I don't know what else to do with it. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy new rings. . . a ring for me, and two rings for Lisbon. Please. . . please don't hate me—"

"Jane?" Lisbon called out, a note of panic in her voice. "Jane? Where are you?"

"Goodbye," Jane whispered, before diving into an oncoming wave and swimming to shore.

"Jane! What are you doing?" Lisbon practically yelled, running towards him, and helping him up.

"Going for a swim," Jane answered.

"Jane, I was so worried when I woke up and you weren't there!" Lisbon whispered, trying to hide her anxiety. "You didn't even leave a note! Don't ever do that to me again!"

Jane waved her off. "Did you leave April and Daisy by themselves?"

"I locked the door before I left," Lisbon answered. "And I've only been gone a couple of minutes."

Jane grinned. "I've only been gone a couple of minutes. You must have woken up right after I left."

She flushed and led him back up to the hotel. "Don't flatter yourself Mr. Jane."

He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Thank you for coming to look for me. I would have been okay though."

Lisbon didn't like how rapidly her heart was beating. She didn't like how it got harder to breathe with Jane's being so close. She didn't like how her heart was screaming to stop him and kiss him, right then and there. She didn't like how she liked all of these things. This was supposed to be temporary. A business arrangement, really.

She was supposed to be in love with Emmett. . . she was supposed to be trying to get over a broken heart. She wasn't supposed to be falling into the arms of another man, especially when this man was her consultant.

"Lisbon?" Jane said, breaking into her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Believe it or not, we're back at our room," he answered. "You said you locked the door."

"Oh, right." Lisbon fished through her pocket and produced the card key; she smiled sheepishly, and then slipped it into the door.

"You try and get some sleep," Jane whispered as they entered the room. "I'm going to take a really quick shower, and change my clothes."

"Okay," she said, hoarsely.

He pulled her a little closer than before and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Good night."

She wouldn't have told anybody, but she melted a little bit with his touch. "Good night."

And she wouldn't have admitted, but she wasn't able to fall asleep until Jane was back by her side. And the next morning, when they woke up, and his arms were wrapped her waist, and her head was resting on his chest: she didn't get angry with him, or try to do any physical damage on his person. She wanted to stay in his arms forever.

**TBC. . .**


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks to all the girls who reviewed (sorry if I miss anybody): , Shepweir always () In The Name, Jisbon4Ever, Country2776, allano96 (), Lisbon69, LAorore, & lysjelonken_

_This chapter was edited to "Like a Ray of Light" by Madonna._

**VI. Wow! Kisses and Engagement rings**

"You want to go and look for rings _today_?" Tavis whispered to Jane, as they watched Lisbon and Shani feed the girls chocolate chip and banana pancakes, while drinking tropical smoothies.

Jane took a sip of his Hibiscus tea. "Today. I'll even pay for the ferry over to Honolulu if I have to."

Tavis took a huge bit of banana pancakes, and chewed them thoughtfully. "But why today? Why not when we get back to California? Oh! I have a better question! Why didn't you think of these things _before _you married her?"

Jane smiled and leaned back in his lounging chair "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Come on Man," Tavis prodded. "We've always been honest with each other. We're almost like brothers—"

"I can't tell you," Jane repeated, suddenly serious. "It wouldn't be fair to Teresa."

"Okay, I'll come over with you to Honolulu then. No questions asked."

"Thank you."

"I'll just go and talk to Shani, tell her that she and Teresa should spend the day on the beach, so Teresa can work on her tan. Maybe I'll tell them to do some shopping, or catch a movie."

"Or all three," Jane said. "Just don't tell them what we're doing. I don't want Shani to be on my case about. . . well, not doing things right, right away. And I certainly don't want her to try and find out the 'real' story."

"I hear you," Tavis replied. "You just stay here, and I'll go square things with the ladies."

A few minutes later, Lisbon came over and smiled teasingly at Jane. "So, you've already had enough honeymoon?"

Jane returned Lisbon's smile, without so much of the teasing. "No, of course not. There's just something I have to do."

"Well, I should be worried. . . but I trust you."

"Really?"

"Do we need to do another trust fall to prove it?" Lisbon replied. "Of course, I trust you. How could I not?"

"I promise that I'll be back before midnight."

"Be back before dinner."

"I'll be back before dinner then," Jane agreed. "But why is that so important?"

"Because, I was thinking. . . we could order a pizza, with pineapple and watch a movie with Daisy and April. Shani and Tavis want to go out to eat—"

"Don't they think we'd like to go out to eat and be alone?"

"Shani promised me that after tonight, she wouldn't bother us with baby-sitting anymore."

"Fine, I'll be back by dinner," Jane said again. He glanced over and saw that Shani and Tavis were staring at them, with ridiculously wide smiles on their faces. "Kiss me goodbye."

Lisbon looked confused. "What? Why? Here—"

"Just do it," Jane said, getting to his feet and pulling her with him, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"Okay," Lisbon agreed, kissing his lips quickly.

"Not like _that_," Jane whispered disapprovingly. "Like this. . ." he placed his lips on her, and gave her a Hollywood-esque kiss. It was even better than the one that they had shared to seal their agreement for a one-year marriage. It was even better than their obligatory kiss at the altar.

"Oh," Lisbon whispered. "Well. . . that is a huge improvement. But. . . don't go around kissing me like that all the time. People might get the wrong idea—"

"Come on Patrick," Tavis said. "I just asked about the ferry at the front desk, if we hurry we can catch the one that leaves in ten minutes."

Jane kissed Lisbon again, this time a little more quickly than before. "Good bye darling. I'll be back later. Have a good day with Shani and the girls."

Lisbon smiled a little dazed. "Yeah, you have a good day with Shani and the girls too. I mean, have a good day with Tavis. . . doing whatever it is that you're going to do."

Shani came up to her, beaming. "MMH. . . girlfriend—"

"Do I look stupid?" Lisbon asked, turning to look at Shani.

Shani touched Lisbon's flushed cheeks. "You're grinning like an idiot. But I've never seen anybody look lovelier. Come on, let's get in our swimsuits and go down to the beach for a swim. You can work on your tan."

"I don't need to worry about a tan," Lisbon said, grabbing Daisy up, and burying her face in her neck. "In my line of work, I rarely ever. . . I haven't had a tan in ages. I haven't had one since I was teenager, actually."

"Well, what's the use of being in Hawaii if you can't get a nice tan?"

Lisbon moaned, but she followed Shani to the elevators and up to her room to get into her bathing suit just the same. If she was telling the truth, she would say that a morning at the beach was just the thing that she needed. . . especially after the kiss that Jane had given her. She was hoping, maybe a dip in the ocean would clear her head.

**.**

"This is nice," Tavis said, picking up a non-discript ring and showing it to Jane. "Simple, tasteful, not very expensive—"

"Every girl's dream ring," Jane replied, almost sarcastically.

Tavis smiled, put the ring down, and turned to a sale's clerk. "We're looking for something a little more original."

"Something a little more original?" the sale's clerk repeated. "I have just the thing then, if you would excuse me for a moment."

"_Just the thing_ means extremely expensive," Tavis whispered to Jane.

"Maybe not," Jane replied.

"How's this?" The sale's clerk asked, producing a wooden ring box with a starfish engraved on the lid.

"It's a wooden box," Tavis said.

The man looked annoyed as he handed it Jane. "You have to _open _it."

Jane grinned smugly at Tavis, and opened the box. "Wow!"

"You never say _wow_," Tavis said, craning his neck to take a look in the box. "Was that a good _wow_? Or a bad _wow_? Because I've never heard you say _wow_ before."

"It was a'_wow I just think I found her ring_', wow," Jane answered.

"Well, let me see it!" Tavis took the box from his hand. "_Wow_! I've never seen something quite like it. . . do you think she'll like it?"

Jane nodded as they both stared down at the ring, a silver, crown cut piece, encrusted with flecks of diamonds, and a starfish cut diamond in the center. "She'll love it."

"Once again Patrick, your knowledge of what women want astounds me."

Jane smiled modestly and placed the ring on the counter. "I might be interested in buying this. How much does it cost?"

"It was designed by a local jewelry artist, so it's a fairly reasonable price. . . only three hundred dollars."

"Three hundred dollars?" Jane repeated. "Is this a real diamond?"

"Fourteen caret," the sale's clerk replied. "So, deal or no deal?"

Jane looked at the ring thoughtfully. "Before I make my final decision, could I see what you have in the way of wedding rings?"

"He's already married," Tavis said to the other man's questioning look. "But it was sort of a quick thing, so they didn't buy wedding rings."

"Oh, wedding rings, of course! We have wedding rings by the same person who designed our starfish engagement ring. Except, there's a starfish engraved on the ring, instead of the diamond."

"We'll look at those then," Jane said.

"If you'd excuse me for another second."

Forty minutes later, Jane had purchased two wedding rings and the starfish engagement ring. He and Tavis grabbed a quick lunch, and then they were back on their way to their hotel and their ladies.

**.**

"Don't worry about it sugar," Shani said to Lisbon. "He's not worth your tears."

"He left me! He left me without any explanation to why he didn't want to get married, or where he was going!" Lisbon replied, burying her head in Shani's shoulder.

"It's in the past though, you have Patrick now."

"Patrick," Lisbon said quietly, new tears flowing down her face. She rubbed at her cheeks. "MMH. . . Jane."

"Listen to me Teresa; you're way too good for him. This Emmett character doesn't deserve you. . . if you ask me, he _NEVER _deserved you!"

"Shani?" Tavis asked, coming into the room. "We're back – what's wrong with Teresa?"

"She had a run in with an old boyfriend," Shani whispered. "Where's Patrick?"

"Back at his room, waiting for Teresa and the girls. . . he's already ordered the pizza and everything."

Shani stood, bringing Lisbon with her. "Come with me Teresa. I think you need to see Patrick right now. Whenever you're ready, you can call for the girl's to come over. We'll even understand if you don't want them to—"

"No," Lisbon said. "I want them to come. . . it'll make me feel better if they're there."

"Okay, if it'll make you feel better," Shani agreed. "But right now, I think you just need your husband. Come on."

**.**

"Lisbon!" Jane said cheerfully as he pulled the door open and prepared to take her into his arms. His face fell. "And Shani. . . hey."

"Hello Patrick," Shani replied.

"Is everything okay?" Jane asked, suddenly concerned when he saw Lisbon's red eyes and puffy cheeks.

"She's having sort of a rough day," Shani answered. "We ran into her ex-fiancé and he was with another woman! It was a very upsetting experience for her."

"Oh, Lisbon," Jane said. "Oh, Lisbon. . . come here." He pulled her into his arms and gently ran his hand up and down her back. "I'm so sorry darling."

Lisbon didn't say anything, she just cried harder.

"Call me when you're ready for the girls," Shani whispered as she closed the door softly.

Jane held her the whole entire time she cried, whispering soothing words, and rubbing comforting circles into her arms and back. Finally, when she had cried her last, he wiped up her tears with his handkerchief, and decided it wasn't a good time to give her the rings he had purchased.

"Jane!" Lisbon caught his hand in her's as he lowered it after wiping the last trace of tears away. "You're wedding ring. . . it's gone! Where is it? Did you take it off?"

"Well. . . well. . . well, I can't tell you what happened right now," Jane answered finally, removing his hand from her grasp, and leaving her alone in the hallway.

Lisbon followed him. "Did somebody steal it?"

"How could somebody steal a ring off another person's finger without them noticing?" Jane answered. "The person would have to have no feeling whatsoever to not notice it was being stolen right off his finger. Or, the thief would have to cut the person's finger off."

"Jane! I demand you tell me what happened to your ring!" Lisbon said.

"Oh really?" He retorted. "As what? My wife, or as my boss?"

"Both," Lisbon answered.

"Well, I don't have an answer for you," Jane said. "Get back to me in a year or so."

"_Fine_!" She said impatiently as she started to pull off her tank-top and stalk off to the bathroom. She stopped, suddenly remorseful. She turned and looked at him. "I'm sorry. . . it really isn't my business what happened to your ring."

"Lisbon, I wish I could tell you what I did with my ring. . . but considering what happened with you today, I just can't. You're not ready for it."

Lisbon nodded. "Okay. I won't ask about it again."

"Thank you," Jane said, putting his hand in his pocket and fingering the boxes that held their wedding rings.

"I'm going to take a shower," Lisbon said. "Before April and Daisy get here."

"I have something to do in the lobby," Jane replied. "I'll go get them and bring them back here after I'm finished." 

"You should get the pizza while you're down there." She said, trying to fall back into something normal.

"Right," he agreed. Suddenly a thought came to him, and he came over to Lisbon, taking his hands in her's. "Listen, if you want to leave, I can make arrangements to be out of here by tomorrow."

"No, that's okay. . ." Lisbon said. "I can't do that, that'll just make me seem weak."

"And being weak is a bad thing because. . .?"

"I just don't want to be weak, not because it's bad, or good, or anything. It's just not me."

Jane smiled. It was one of those moments that he had never been prouder to say he knew Lisbon. He kissed her forehead, and even though he knew it would probably make her 'weak', he promised to never leave her side while they were in Hawaii. He had an overwhelming desire to show Emmett that Lisbon really didn't need him anymore.

**TBC. . .**


	8. Chapter 8

_Shout-outs: Phoenixmagic1, lysjelonken, 13 Jo, Little Mender, Anna, Zats, Jisbon4ever, Frogster, Viviskilener4ever, redneckdetectiv, In The Name, P. Schoeller, lisbon69. . . and anybody I left out, I apologize. You guys are the Ultimate! _

**8. Dinner with April and Daisy**

"That was the best pizza _ever_!" Daisy said, after they had finished off the last slice.

"Well, wait until you go to Italy. . . you've never tasted pizza until you've had it there," Jane said, pulling her into his lap, and nuzzling her nose. He looked over at Lisbon, a smile on his lips. "Hey, Teresa. . . the next trip we make, remind me to book tickets to Italy."

Lisbon laughed. "Okay."

"Maybe we can go with you," Daisy suggested, grabbing Lisbon's hand in her own.

"We'll have to see," Jane replied. "But we'd love for you to come with us."

"Hey Uncle Patrick, did you hear about the bad man who broke Aunt Tessie's heart?" Daisy asked, she avoided his eyes, and played with the buttons on his Hawaiian style shirt.

"Daisy! Mom said not to say anything about that happening!" April scolded. She turned to Jane, and smiled. "So, are you going to beat him up?"

"Yeah! Beat him up!" Daisy agreed. "Punch him in the nose, and then the stomach. Then kick him while he's down!"

"Girls," Jane said. "This isn't really the best of subjects. Let's talk about something else."

"But—" Daisy started.

Jane shook his head. "_No_! No buts. Aunt Tessie got hurt, and talking about it will only make it hurt more."

Both Daisy and April looked like they wanted to say something else, but another warning look from Jane, and they both clammed up immediately.

"Thank you," Lisbon mouthed, smiling at him.

"You're welcome," he mouthed back. He turned to the girls. "So, who wants to go and see a movie? There's a theater just down the street."

"Can we get popcorn?" Daisy asked, jumping off the bed.

"You can get whatever you want," Jane answered.

"Okay!" Daisy said, enthusiastically. "Let's go."

**.**

"They're so beautiful when they sleep," Lisbon said as she and Jane looked down at Daisy and April a couple of hours later. "So peaceful."

Jane put his arm around Lisbon's waist and pulled her close. He laid a kiss on her forehead and asked, "Do you want kids?"

She looked at him, startled. She couldn't understand why he had asked such a question. "Of course I do. . . lots of them."

"I want kids too," Jane said. "I want all of them to have green eyes and brunette hair. Or maybe green eyes and blonde hair. Or blue eyes and brunette hair—"

"Jane, that's not funny," Lisbon chided. "Please, don't joke like that."

He laughed, even though he hadn't been joking. He really did want to have children with Lisbon. If he were being totally honest with her, and with himself. . . he would have told her that their deal to get an annulment seemed so far away. But he didn't even know he was even daring to think the thought.

"We should go to bed," he said, releasing her.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. She bent down and brushed feather-soft kisses on April and Daisy's foreheads.

Jane's breath caught in his throat, picturing a scene like that with their own children one day. But again, he couldn't say it. Besides, she still loved Emmett. . . she hadn't gotten over him yet. He couldn't really blame her; the guy had only left her four days ago. He swallowed hard, and leaned over to give the girls kisses of his own, then followed Lisbon to get ready for bed.

.

Lisbon spent most of the night, laying on her side and watching Jane as he slept. But she wasn't thinking about the man sleeping by her side. She was thinking about Emmett. . . and the tall, blonde model-like woman who had been clinging to his arm. The woman was everything she wasn't. She was sort of thinking about Jane, and how she could have been falling for him. . . until she had run into Emmett and he had messed up her mind. But mostly, she was thinking about how he didn't look the least bit guilty for being caught with another woman just day after they were supposed to have been married. And how he didn't look the least bit sorry when he saw her, or try to explain why he had left.

She didn't really want anything else from Emmett. If he ever asked to come back, she would probably refuse him. He had hurt her once before, who was to say it wouldn't happen again? No, she didn't care if Emmett was her's ever again. She just wanted an explanation to why he had left. Had _she_ done something wrong? Had the Woman always in the picture, even before they had been dating? She decided that she had to find Emmett and demand an explanation from him for why he had left. Then, she would tell him off and try to make her one-year marriage with Jane workout somehow.

**.**

"I can't believe you're doing this Teresa," Shani said as followed Lisbon into the lobby of the hotel where Emmett was staying the next day.

"You don't understand Shani, I have to do this, and I need to find out why he left me.

"You're just being stupid! Keep the past in the past. . . you have a great guy—"

"I have a great guy," Lisbon said. "But things will never be great between us if I don't talk to Emmett."

"Teresa!" Shani shouted after her. "Please, let's just leave!"

But Lisbon was a woman on a mission and she wouldn't be swayed one bit. Shani shook her head and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, then dialed Jane's number. She knew that Lisbon would need him to be there for her after the confrontation with Emmett was over.

Jane answered on the first ring and asked where they were. Shani quickly filled him in on the details, and asked him to get to the hotel as fast as he could. Jane promised he would do just that, and hung up before Shani even got a chance to say goodbye.

She found Lisbon a few seconds later, and the two of them went to ask after Emmett together. The desk attendant was very helpful, and called his room almost immediately. . . no questions asked. Less than five minutes later, Emmett had joined them and was leading Lisbon to the hotel café, without inviting Shani to come along.

Shani sighed, pulled out a novel, and took a seat. . . waiting for Jane to show up and save Lisbon.

**.**

"Why did you go?" Lisbon asked, after they had both ordered coffees. "I especially want to know why you left the day of the wedding. . . I want to know why you didn't come and tell me that you didn't want to marry me."

"I almost came to see you, but I couldn't face you," Emmett answered.

"But why?"

"You're Teresa Lisbon; you punch your consultant when you get angry. I didn't want you to punch me."

"I wouldn't have punched you," Lisbon said. "I would have punched Jane. That's actually why I keep him around."

"You keep him around for other reasons," Emmett replied. "I wasn't blind Teresa. I saw the way you two looked at each other."

"Oh please." Lisbon rolled her eyes. "I didn't – _don't_ – have feelings for my consultant."

"But that's not why I left," Emmett said. "I didn't love you Teresa. I never loved you. . . not in all the time we were together."

Lisbon felt like she had been punched in the stomach. "Then why were we together?"

"Because, you fit my ten year plan," Emmett answered, unashamedly. "Marrying a woman who had made a name for herself. Marry a woman who would make me look good."

"So, the whole relationship was all about _you_ then?" Lisbon whispered.

"Yes," Emmett replied.

"From what I've heard, relationships are supposed to be _give_ and then take."

Lisbon stood up. "Jane! What are you doing here?"

"Shani called me and said that you might need a pal," Jane answered. "So, here I am."

"You're Knight in Shining White Armor," Emmett sarcastically added.

Jane turned to him. "As a matter of fact, I am. And you know what Mr. Oliver, I'm glad that Lisbon didn't marry you. You have a lot to learn about relationships before you marry any woman."

"Like, what do I have to learn?"

"Like I said, that relationships are about both giving and taking. And that you should have been trying to outdo Lisbon in making her happy. Putting her needs before your own. And giving her the small things. Like, programs at her wedding, and a honeymoon—"

Lisbon came over to him and gently put her hand on his arm. "Okay, we can go now Jane," she said quietly.

"Well, I'm glad that I didn't marry you." Emmett stood-up and called out after them as they left. "I heard all about how you turned around and married _him _the day you were supposed to marry me! My mother called and told me—"

"Wait a minute Teresa," Jane said. He turned around and went back to Emmett, delivering a tidy punch to his nose as he did.

"I'll sue!" Emmett said, rubbing his nose gingerly.

"No, no you won't," Jane replied. "If you ever bother either of us again, you will be sorry."

.

"Patrick?" Shani asked as he and Lisbon passed her to go out to the parking lot.

"I'll bring Teresa back with me," Jane said, over his shoulder. "You go on ahead of us."

Shani nodded and gave them an opportunity to leave before heading to her own rental car.

**.**

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Lisbon asked, after Jane had found a place to get coffee.

"I don't understand why you went and saw him," Jane answered. "I mean, after the way he treated you."

Lisbon smiled teasingly. "You don't understand? And you're supposed to know _everything_."

"Lisbon, I'm not in the mood for joking."

She sobered. "Okay, fine. . . I'll tell you why I went. I wanted closure."

"Closure's overrated," Jane said. "It makes you feel even worse than you felt before it."

"Not me. Today's meeting with Emmett made me realize what a jerk he really is. I don't know what I ever really saw in him."

"His money and ridiculous good looks," Jane said.

"So now you decide to play psychic." She reached over and took his hand in her own. "Could you just try and let today's incident go? I promise never to see him again."

"Lisbon, I—" Jane let the thought hang in the air, finishing the thought in his head instead. _Lisbon, I love you. _He smiled at her sheepishly. "Are you angry at me?"

"Why should I be angry at you?" Lisbon asked.

"Because I punched Emmett."

"I thought it was sweet," Lisbon replied. "Thank you."

"You know, I'm always going to save you Lisbon, whether you like it or not," Jane said quietly.

"I know that," Lisbon said. She leaned over the table that was separating them, and kissed his cheek quickly. "Thank you."

Jane touched his cheek, and tried to figure out how he was going to survive without her in his life. Because he needed her more than anything. When she wasn't around, it was like a year in California without rain.

**TBC. . .**

_This chapter was edited to "Lullaby" by Priscilla Ahn, and "A Year Without Rain" by Selena Gomez & the Scene. (I quoted the song at the end of the story. Oh! And the last part of the song wasn't in my original draft. But that's only because I wrote it in May.)_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A big shout-out to everybody who's reviewed this week. I love you all lots.**_

**10. More Surprises and He Wanted to Tell Her That. . .**

"So, we should definitely meet for dinner," Shani said to Lisbon. "Call me any time and we can work out the details."

"Okay," Lisbon agreed, pulling Shani into a hug. "It was great meeting you!"

"You too!" Shani replied, returning her hug. She pulled away. "Girls, say goodbye to Aunt Tess and thank her for everything she and Uncle Patrick did for you two in Hawaii."

"Thank you," April said, hugging Lisbon goodbye. "I had the best time with you and Uncle Patrick. It was so great of you to let us tag along with you two, even though it was your honeymoon."

"It wasn't a problem April, we loved having you around," Lisbon replied, returning her hug. "We'll get together soon for a girl's day out, just you and me."

Daisy threw her arms around Lisbon's legs. "I'm going to miss you."

Lisbon picked her up. "We'll see each other soon. Uncle Patrick and I want you to come and spend the night with us in a couple of weeks. . . and you too April."

Jane joined Lisbon and the girls, he gave April a hug and said goodbye to her. Then he pulled Lisbon and Daisy into a group hug. There was another round of goodbyes before they all went their separate ways.

.

"I have another surprise for you," Jane said as he drove away from the airport.

"I want to know how your car got to the airport, forget surprises," Lisbon replied.

"Oh. . . I had Cho drop it off for me," he answered. "This is better than my car at the airport though."

"Really?"

"Really," Jane said earnestly. He searched through his pockets and pulled out the tie he had used to cover her face the day they had left for Hawaii. "But first, you have to cover your eyes."

"Why?" Lisbon whined, tying the tie around them all the same.

Jane smiled. "You'll see."

Twenty minutes later, they pulled to a complete stop. Lisbon looked around, confused. "Why did you stop? Are we at the office yet? Jane?"

"Patience woman!" Jane replied, he got out of the car and came around to help her out.

"I have a feeling that we're not at the office," Lisbon said, as Jane slipped his hand into her's and they started to walk.

"Shh!" Jane ordered. He released her, made her wait for a couple of minutes, took her blindfold off, then covered her eyes with his hands.

"Come on Jane!" Lisbon pleaded.

"Okay!" Jane took his hands off her eyes, and rested them on her shoulders. "Welcome home!"

Lisbon looked confused. "This is. . . _your _home though. Your's and Olivia's. . ."

He shook his head. "I had it remodeled while we were away. It's _your_ home now. Your home, and my home. . . _our_ home."

"Oh. . . oh my gosh."

There was a knock on the door, and Jane turned around to answer it. Van Pelt and Rigsby were standing on the porch, smiling at him.

"Are we too early?" Rigsby asked.

"No, perfect timing," Jane said, letting them in.

"Wow! It looks great!" Van Pelt said, coming into the hallway and looking around. "I was here when they first started. . . all I can say is, wow. It's like a whole new house."

"Hi Van Pelt."

"Boss!" Van Pelt pulled her into a hug. "You look AWESOME! You look like you've been in Hawaii for two weeks. I'm so jealous."

"Well, don't be jealous. We had an awful time." Lisbon smiled. "I bought a bunch of things for you though. "

"You didn't have to bring me anything," Van Pelt said.

Lisbon waved her off. "It was no big deal. I wanted to."

There was another knock at the door and Jane answered it again. This time Hightower came in, followed by Cho and Cho's girlfriend.

"Welcome back," Hightower said, handing Lisbon a bottle of Champagne. "I hope you two had a marvelous time in Hawaii."

"It was really nice," Lisbon answered. "Thank you for giving me the vacation time"

"You earned it," Hightower said. "Besides, you and Jane are still young, you should enjoy yourselves while you can. . . and before the kids come."

Lisbon laughed. "Kids. . . _right_."

"Hey!" Minelli came into the house. "I hope you don't mind, I let myself in."

"Who invited you?" Jane asked, giving the man a handshake.

"Cho called and told me that you two had gotten married," Minelli answered. "And then, he told me that there was a housewarming. So, I invited myself. I wanted to congratulate the two of you for finally getting married."

"Finally?" Lisbon asked.

"Well, it's a pleasure to see you Virgil. We've missed you," Jane said. "Thank you for coming."

"Who else did you invite?" Lisbon asked.

"Just a few others," Jane answered. "Tavis, Shani, and the girls should be here soon. And I invited Mashburn—"

"Walter Mashburn?" She looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Are you _kidding_ me?"

"No! Of course he's not _kidding_ you!" Mashburn said. "Jane, you know how much I hate to lose. But if I had to lose, I'm glad that I lost to such a worthy opponent."

"Worthy opponent?" Lisbon asked. "Jane. . . is there something you're not telling me?"

"Of course there's something he isn't telling you. There's always something he isn't telling you."

Lisbon glared at Jane. "You invited _Kristina Frye_?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Jane shrugged.

"Listen, Agent Lisbon. . . no hard feelings. I knew this was coming the whole time. I had a vision of it happening."

"Oh, well. . . thank you," Lisbon said.

Kristina smiled and turned to Mashburn. "I'm Kristina Frye, and you are?"

"Walter Mashburn," he replied. "You know, you're not bad looking. A little uptight maybe. But I could fix that."

She took his arm. "Sounds divine, tell me how you'd do it."

Lisbon turned to Jane. "You planned that one, didn't you?"

"A little match-making never hurt anybody," Jane answered. "Now if you'd excuse me, I think that Tavis and Shani just got here."

"Wait a minute!" Lisbon stopped him. "I never said that you did anything wrong. In fact, I'm happy you did it. Now I won't have to worry about that woman plastering herself all over my husband."

"And I won't have to worry about Mashburn chasing after my wife." Jane stopped. "Although, I never really had to worry about that. He knew when he first met us that he had already lost."

"Lost?" Lisbon asked.

"Never you mind," Jane said. "Look who's here! It's our favorite Cooper family!"

"Sorry that we lied to you," April addressed Lisbon.

"You didn't lie to me," Lisbon assured her. "I never suspected a thing, so I never asked about it."

Van Pelt came back into the hall. "Come on! We all want to see your house. Don't you want to see your house?"

Lisbon's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! My apartment!"

"Hightower found somebody to sublease it," Jane said. "I covered all the bases."

"Except you didn't ask me to move in with you."

"Okay, fine. . . Teresa, don't you think it's time we moved in together? I mean, we've been seeing each other a lot—"

She slapped him playfully. "Oh, shut up!"

Jane looked at Tavis. "I'll take that as a yes."

.

"The house is incredible Jane," Lisbon said, later that night after everybody had left and they were cleaning up. "I can't believe you did all of this for me. It must have been a huge step."

"But for you, it was worth it," Jane answered. "I think—"

"I remember the first time I came over here," Lisbon said suddenly. "You hadn't come into work, and I was scared you had done something stupid. So, I came to check up on you. You got so angry with me because I came into your bedroom and saw the little blow up mattress under Red John's signature. Then I started to cry, because I thought you were so strong. But I saw a real vulnerable side to you. And then you started to cry too. And you held me. . ." there were tears welling up in her eyes.

Jane dropped his towel and came over to her. "Oh Lisbon. . ."

"Now. . . now there's a _double _bed, and that smiley-face is covered up. Like, you're really ready to move on."

"It's because I _am_ ready to move on," he said.

"Well, in a year, you can." She smiled at him, trying hard not to think of the coming year. Trying hard not to think about how she was falling in love with her husband. "Come on, I'm exhausted. We can finish this in the morning. Hightower gave us the next two days off."

"You go on," Jane said. "I want to finish this."

Lisbon nodded and leaned up, pressing her lips to his cheek. "Thank you. . . for being so. . . so you. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You're welcome," Jane said, wishing that he could just tell her that he didn't want to get an annulment, that he wanted to stay with her forever. That she was the woman, he wanted to move on with, and that's why he was doing all of the things he was doing. They were all truly for her.

He wanted to tell her that he would miss her arms around him while they slept, and that his hand would feel so empty, because her fingers were the only fingers that fit between his so perfectly. He would feel so sad when he looked at his hand. He wanted to tell her that he would miss their whispered laughter and conversation in bed. He wanted to tell her that when they were together, he didn't feel alone anymore. . . and if she left, he would feel alone all over again. He wanted to tell her, even if they did get the marriage annulled, he would be thinking of her every time he blinked. . . he would wish she was there with him.

He wanted to tell her these things, but he just couldn't. All of his courage had mysteriously disappeared the day she had looked up at him with her green eyes and proposed marriage.

**(A/N: the last part of this chapter was inspired by "Vanilla Twilight" by Owl City.)**


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry this chapter has taken so long to upload. I've been having some health issues, and crying constantly. I have been selfish, I should have been going on with my normal activities. . . but no, I had to have a self-pity party. _ _Thank you to everybody who reviewed my last chapter. Jisbon69, you must be a Mentalist, because they will be doing couple-y things in this chapter. _11. "Maybe Later" Finally Happens

Lisbon's radio alarm was playing _Dream a Little Dream _the next morning. She had set it the night before, because she wanted to make breakfast for Jane. But surprisingly, there wasn't anything in the house to eat. So, she got dressed and quietly slipped out of the house to make a grocery store run. She just hoped that Jane didn't wake up before she got back. And of course he did, in fact she was looking at ice cream when he showed up and put a couple of cartons in the cart.

"I like Hagaan-Daz coffee," He said to her questioning look.

"No, how did you know I was here?"

"I got up early to make you breakfast. I noticed you weren't in bed. I didn't think anything of it until I went to the kitchen and realized that we didn't have anything to eat. It doesn't take a psychic to figure out where you went."

"You're wearing your suit again." She reached out and touched his vest, touching each button.

"Well, we're home now. . . the honeymoon's over," Jane replied. He looked at her. "You're wearing the dress I bought you in Hawaii."

"Today and tomorrow are the last days you'll see me in a dress though," Lisbon said. "We go back to work soon."

"Meh. You can always wear a dress when we go out for date nights."

"Date nights?" Lisbon asked, smiling slightly.

"Don't worry, I won't try and seduce you over a meal."

"You know, I've been wondering about that," Lisbon said, putting a couple more cartons of ice cream into their cart.

"Wondering about what, exactly?" Jane asked innocently.

"About seducing me over a meal."

"Well, what about it?"

"You never said that you wouldn't seduce me. You just said you wouldn't seduce me over a meal. That means you might still try to seduce me."

"Well. . . that depends, are you seducible?"

She laughed. "Funny."

"Seriously."

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"I don't know. What do you feel like making?"

"_Trix_ cereal," Lisbon replied.

Jane grinned at her goofily. "Silly Lisbon, _Trix _are for kids!"

Lisbon giggled. "Well then, _Trix_ are perfect for you."

"I want a breakfast for champions though."

"Okay, well then I'll serve you a big, heaping bowl of _Wheaties_!"

"Okay, okay, how about I make Western omelets?" Jane said.

"I can make Western omelets," Lisbon replied.

"I insist that you let me make breakfast."

Lisbon sighed in mock defeat. "Okay, fine. But I get to make lunch."

"Fine. But I get to treat you to dinner tonight. . . how about that place in Napa Valley?"

"Are you going to borrow Mashburn's car again?" Lisbon asked.

"I'll call him and see," Jane answered, his blue eyes twinkling. "Hey! Maybe we can even get him and Kristina Frye to double with us."

"I wasn't exactly saying that I wanted you to borrow his car. I was just kidding."

Jane rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get the ingredients for Western omelets. You finish the rest of the grocery shopping and I'll meet you at the check out counter."

Lisbon faked a pout. "I'll miss you."

Jane laughed and pouted back. "I'll miss you more."

Lisbon smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Hurry back."

**.**

"Order anything you want, I'm paying," Jane said, as they pursued the menus.

"You say that every time we go out to eat," Lisbon replied. "Did you know that?"

"Yes," Jane answered. "I like the way it sounds though. Order anything you want, I'm paying."

"I like the sound of it too," Lisbon agreed. "But I just wish you'd say something else."

"Okay, fine. Lisbon, I'm sick and tired of paying for your meals. Buy it yourself." Jane laughed.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You think you're so funny, don't you?"

"Oh, you think I'm funny too." Jane shot back.

_Banana Pancakes_ by Jack Johnson was playing, Lisbon smiled at Jane. "Hey, it's later. . ."

"What?" Jane asked, looking confused. "Oh. . . right. Well, then. . . _Mrs. Jane_ would you like to dance?"

"Maybe later," she replied. "Nobody else is dancing right now."

"So what?" Jane answered. "Since when has everybody else stopped me from doing something?"

"Please Jane, I was just kidding."

"Then you owe me a dance when we get home," Jane said, waving their waiter over. "We'll have two glasses of Chardonnay, and the Brie cheese and toasted baguette appetizer."

The waiter nodded and hurried off to fill his order.

"I like this," Lisbon said. "You and I. . . together like this. It's nice."

Jane could barely contain the joy that rose to his throat. "Do you really mean that?"

Lisbon smiled. "Yes, I do. Being a wife. . . it's better than I could have ever imagined."

"Well, then. . ." Jane swallowed hard. "You better start hunting for candidates to be your real husband when we get our marriage annulled."

"Yeah. . ." Lisbon agreed, trying not to sound wistful. She cleared her throat. "What about you? Are you going to try and find a _real_ wife after we get our marriage. . . annulled?"

"I haven't decided yet," Jane answered. "I know of this one woman, she'd be my ideal wife, but I don't know if she'd be interested."

"Well, if she isn't, it's her loss." Lisbon there was a catch in her throat and she tried to contain her emotions. "You're. . . wonderful—"

Jane was on the verge of telling her that she was his ideal wife, when the waiter brought their wine, and the whole moment was lost.

.

"It's finally later," Jane said when they had gotten home, changed into their pajamas, and Lisbon was dishing out ice cream for them (even though they had eaten dessert at the restaurant).

"Finally later?" Lisbon repeated.

"We can dance now," Jane replied, going over to their stereo system, and putting a CD in. _More than Words _by _Extreme _came over the speakers, and he came over to Lisbon.

She smiled and placed her hand in his. "This is so. . . silly."

"Silly?" Jane asked, dipping her, and shrugging as he lifted her back up. "Maybe it is. But admit it, you love it."

She looked into his eyes, her own sparkling. "Okay, I _love it_!"

"I knew you did," Jane said, twirling her over to the counter and picking up her ice cream bowl. He put a spoonful of coffee ice cream into her mouth as they continued to dance around the kitchen together for the rest of the night.

**TBC. . .**


	11. Chapter 11

**12. Their First Year of Marriage in Retrospect**

**Halloween:**

"Hurry up Jane! We're going to be late!" Lisbon called.

"I think you better go without me," Jane called back.

"It's a _couple's _costume party!" She said. "I can't be Nora without you're being Nick. Nobody will know who I am."

"Nobody's going to know who you are if I'm with you," Jane answered, coming out of their bedroom and staring down at her from over the banister.

"It was your idea to be Nick and Nora," Lisbon reminded him.

"It's not the couple we're dressed up as," Jane said. "It's. . . it's just I haven't dressed up for Halloween in years. The last time I dressed up was for Bradli's first Halloween, and her mother dressed us up as Crayola crayons."

"Didn't you ever dress up and go trick-or-treating when you were a little boy?" Lisbon asked, hitching the skirt of her evening gown and climbing the stairs. She reached for Jane's bow-tie, tied it, and then smoothed it out.

"No, not really," Jane answered. "Sometimes, we'd have the carnival open on Halloween night, and I'd put on one of those rubber monster masks, scare poor innocent kids to death. But I never really dressed up."

Lisbon stood back and admired the effect of Jane in a tuxedo. "Well, I think you make a handsomer Nick than William Powell."

Jane smiled. "Well, thank you. You make a prettier Nora than the actress who played Nora."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Are you ready to go?"

"Does going mean that much to you?"

"I promised Shani that we'd be there," Lisbon answered.

"Then, we'll go," Jane said. "I'll go pull out the car. You set out that bowl of _Extra _Watermelon gum, and turn on the light so the kids will know they can get candy here."

Lisbon nodded. "I did it while you were getting dressed. You know, I got to see some of the kids trick-or-treating? And some of them actually stopped to tell me how pretty I looked? They're so adorable."

"And they have good taste," Jane said, taking her arm and helping her down the stairs. "You are pretty."

Lisbon blushed. "You already said that."

"I did?" Jane said. "Well, you are. You're pretty, you're pretty. . . you're pretty."

Her blush grew deeper. "Jane, _stop _it."

He laughed and pulled her in so he could kiss her cheek. "I can't help it. I always say what I'm thinking, and right now that's what I'm thinking."

Lisbon pulled away. "Guess who Tavis and Shani are dressing up as."

"I don't need to guess," Jane said.

"_Guess_," she pushed.

"Let me see. . . Heath and Claire Huxtable from _the Cosby Show_."

"Yes!" Lisbon answered. "Just don't tell them that I told you."

"You didn't tell me, I knew," Jane replied. "You forget who you're dealing with. . ."

**.**

**November:**

"Your brother Tommy called and invited us to go and visit them during Thanksgiving," Jane said, putting her feet in his lap and starting to massage them.

"Really? What did you say?"

"That I had to make sure you weren't going to watch old movies and eat ice cream all weekend," Jane replied.

Lisbon leaned over and smacked him with the magazine she was reading. "Seriously, what did you say?" 

"I invited them over here to visit with us," Jane said.

"You didn't!"

"We have plenty of room."

"Jane. . ."

"So, they're coming the Saturday before Thanksgiving."

"Jane, we already invited a bunch of people over for Thanksgiving though!" Lisbon said. "Including your old friends Kristina Frye and Walter Mashburn."

"So?" Jane asked. "Tommy, his wife, and his kids are your _family_. They should trump an old almost-boyfriend of your's, and an old almost-girlfriend of mine. I know your concerns, and they're completely _not_ valid!"

"Invalid," Lisbon muttered.

"What you said," Jane agreed. "I know your concerns, and they're completely invalid. Haven't you ever heard the expression _the more the merrier_?"

"Have you ever heard the expression _three's a crowd_?" Lisbon replied. "And now, we have more than three coming! What started out as the team, and the Coopers coming for Thanksgiving dinner has snowballed way out of proportion."

"Which reminds me, Minelli called and asked what we were doing for Thanksgiving, he wanted us to come over for dessert. I invited him and his wife to join us because I had a feeling we wouldn't be getting rid of everybody by dessert."

Lisbon almost screamed as she threw her magazine at his head. "JANE!"

He ducked. "Hey! It'll be fun! I _promise_!"

**.**

**THANKSGIVING:**

"First of all, Teresa and I would like to thank you all for joining us today," Jane said. "It's quite an honor to have you all here celebrating our first Thanksgiving together."

"_As husband and wife_," Minelli added.

"As husband and wife," Jane said his smile growing wider. "I've never done something like this before. . . ever. But since today is about giving thanks, I'd like to take this opportunity to go around the room and each of us to tell one thing we're thankful for. Madeline, if you'd start us off please, then each of you can go accordingly."

"Well," Hightower said. "I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to work with such a great team these past couple of years. And I'm thankful that today, not only am I celebrating Thanksgiving with all of you, but with my husband as well. Thanks to Mr. Jane, we've reconciled. . . for good."

"I'm thankful that my sister finally found somebody worthy of her love and affection," Tommy said. "And I'm thankful that you, Patrick, aren't a loser."

"I'm thankful that I found a new best friend in Teresa," Shani said. "After Olivia was. . . murdered, I didn't think I'd ever, ever find a new girlfriend like her."

"I'm thankful that Patrick was finally able to move on and find somebody he could love just as much as Olivia," Tavis added. "I'm thankful that it was Teresa that he found love with. I mean, she does know him better than any other woman he could have found."

"I'm thankful that most weekends, I get to spend time with Auntie Tessie and Uncle Patrick," Daisy said. "And I'm thankful that April might get the solo part for the church Christmas concert. And I'm thankful that Lee won American Idol, and that there's a second season of _Glee_—"

"Okay sugar," Shani whispered. "Give somebody else a chance to talk."

"I'm thankful that I have a whole four days off from school," April said. "But mostly, I'm thankful for Aunt Tess and that she's helped Uncle Patrick heal his broken heart."

"I'm also thankful for Patrick," Amy, Tommy's wife said. "I'm thankful that he went out to win Teresa's heart, and that he eventually won it. I'm thankful that Teresa allowed her heart to be won. And I'm thankful that they make such a good looking couple."

"Well, I'm thankful that I met Patrick and Teresa Jane," Kristina said. "I'm thankful that I got the chance to get to know Patrick better, it helped me find out he was all wrong for me, and all right for Teresa. I'm also thankful that he introduced me to Walter Mashburn. My equal in. . . almost everything."

"Same here," Mashburn said. "Except, I'm glad that I realized pursuing Agent Lisbon-Jane would have been a disaster, because she would be better for Jane than for me."

Van Pelt giggled at what Walter Mashburn was thankful for, but sobered up after she realized everybody was looking at her. "I'm thankful that Lisbon didn't marry that jerk, Emmett. . . and that she married Jane instead. Plus, I'm thankful that Rigsby and I can still be friends, even though we broke up."

Rigsby nodded. "I'm thankful for all that, and the fact that Jane's a good cook so dinner won't be horrible."

"You and your food." Cho rolled his eyes. "I'm thankful that we finally caught Red John, and that because of Red John, we were all able to come together as a team. I'm thankful for my family and my girlfriend, and for my CBI family."

Lisbon stood up and took a deep breath. "I'm thankful for Patrick too. . . I'm thankful that he's always there when I need him, and that he took a chance on me. He didn't need to. . . but he did. I am so thankful that I was able to give my heart to such a worthy recipient."

"Well, I guess I'm the only one left, unless Wyatt and Tammy want to say something." Jane smiled at his niece and nephew. "Okay, well. . . as everybody here already knows, I lost my wife and daughter tragically. I didn't think I'd ever learn to open my heart up again. I hated those_ Kay_ _Jeweler_ commercials that said, if you keep your heart open, love will always find it's way in. In fact, I was completely shut down from any emotion at all. Until, I started to spend more and more time with Teresa. First, it started out with us pairing off when we worked cases. Then, we realized we were the last one's to leave the office, so we would end the day with cups of tea, and chats to unwind after a tough case. Before I realized what was happening, I was in over my head. My only thought was her. . . I wanted to touch her, breathe her in. . . be near her every single millisecond of the day.

He glanced over at Kristina. "I got side-tracked, but I'm also thankful for that. Because it only brought me back to Lisbon. . . to Teresa. I'm thankful that everything makes sense when I'm around her, and that nothing makes sense without her. I'm thankful that she came and taught me to love again. Everything that she is, I'm thankful for."

"Well. . . " Lisbon said after a few minutes of stunned silence. Her cheeks flushed, she fumbled over her words, not thinking for a second anything he said was true (but wishing it could be). "I think it's time to eat. Jane. . . if you'd start carving the turkey. Cho, you can serve the wine. . . " she started doling out tasks, her mind reeling from everything that Jane had just said.

**.**

December:

"Come on Lisbon! Let's go out and get our Christmas tree!" Jane said the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving.

"No! It's too early. The tree will die. Besides that, we don't have decorations."

"Way ahead of you sister," he replied. "We're going to go shopping for Christmas decorations at Normandy's, and Bloomingdales, and all of those other swanky places that will have amazing Christmas decorations. Then, we're going over to Target to buy a _faux _Christmas tree. We'll get a real tree the week before Christmas." 

"Two Christmas trees?" Lisbon asked.

"Please?" Jane replied, giving her puppy dog eyes.

She sighed; relenting. . . she was helpless when Jane looked at her that way. "Fine, but we're going out to lunch."

"You choose the place," Jane agreed.

Christmas day

"You spoiled me," Lisbon said, after they had opened all of their gifts. The last of which was a necklace from Jane Seymore's _Open Your Heart to Love _collection at _Kay Jeweler's_.

"Well, it was our first Christmas together." Jane nodded to his pile of presents. "And you spoiled me too."

She nodded, deciding not say anything about how it could possibly be their _last_ Christmas together. She didn't want to think about it. She stood to her feet. "I'm going to make coffee? Would you like some tea?"

Jane handed her the box of Christmas Breakfast blend she had bought for him. "Yes, please."

"We're only having a light breakfast because we're going to have a huge Christmas dinner with Tavis, Shani, and all of their family."

"Hey, all I need is the tea," Jane said. "Then, we can go and surprise Tavis, Shani, and the girls. I bet they're not done opening presents yet. Which, means they're still in their pajamas."

"You're such a child." But she smiled, leaning down to kiss his nose, the smell of her cinnamon perfume making his heart beat uncontrollably. "I'll be ready to go in five minutes."

**.**

New Year's Eve

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6—"

"It's almost time," Jane whispered against Lisbon's ear. "A New Year is just—"

"Happy New Year!" Everybody else cheered.

Lisbon smiled at Jane, as all of the couples around them (even Rigsby and Van Pelt) started to kiss each other. "Happy New Year Patrick."

"Happy New Year Teresa," Jane said, pulling her into his arms and giving her a kiss, because when in Rome. . . (and because, he had wanted to kiss her the way they had kissed in Hawaii every day since then. And New Year's was the perfect excuse to do it. It wouldn't seem funny doing something that everybody else was doing.)

It was a New Year, and still. . . he couldn't find the courage to turn a new page, and ask Lisbon to stay with him for the rest of their lives. He wanted to, he wanted to more than anything. . . but he just couldn't. He didn't want to find out that he felt more than she did.

February 

Valentine's Day

"Delivery for Mrs. Jane!" Jane called out, coming into the bull pen with a dozen red Roses and a huge box of chocolate. He stopped by Van Pelt's desk and put a yellow rose on it, with a tiny box of chocolate. "But first, for you Miss Van Pelt, happy Valentine's Day."

Van Pelt's face lit up. "Oh! Thank you Jane! Here, I have something here for you too. Well. . . for you and Lisbon together. It's from the guys, and me. A gift certificate to some fancy restaurant, for a romantic dinner for two."

"Thank you." Jane smiled. "Now, if you'd excuse me. . . I have to go and see my lady."

**.**

"Happy Valentine's day," Jane said, thrusting the Roses in Lisbon's face.

"Jane!" Lisbon smiled, standing up to greet him. "Happy Valentine's day. I was wondering where you disappeared to. You were gone before I woke up this morning."

"I had things to do," he replied. "As you can see."

"Well, thank you. The roses are gorgeous."

He leaned in and pecked her on the lips. "I also made dinner reservations for a really nice place in LA. . . just you and me, tonight. Formal dress _is _required."

"Does this place have dancing as well?"

"Yes," Jane replied. "Dancing until your feet fall off, if that's your wish."

"When do I need to be ready for this dinner?"

"Reservations are at six, but be ready by four. I mean, it is Hollywood."

"And how did you get reservations at this place, when I'm sure all of these actors and actresses are probably trying to get in tonight?" Lisbon asked, taking the roses from him, and burying her nose in them, breathing in the heady perfume.

"I know the assistant chef. She owes me a favor."

"You and your owed favors."

"You'll thank me for it later," Jane said. "They have coconut cake that is to die for."

"Before I try this to-die-for coconut cake, what did you do for this assistant chef? I mean, why does she owe you a favor? Did you call on her dead father or something?"

"Her dead fiancé, actually," he replied. "His ghost was haunting her because of some unsettled matter between them—"

Lisbon hit him. "Seriously!"

"Okay, one night it was pouring heavily, and her car had broken down. I stopped and gave her a ride to her apartment. She was so thankful that she gave her business card to me, and said if there was any way that she could ever help me, to give her a call."

"When did this happen?" Lisbon asked.

"The week before you got married," Jane said. "I never thought I was going to use up this favor, because you're the only one I would want to share the favor with. How could I use a favor on a married woman though? I mean, yeah, I could have given it to you and Emmett. . . but I'm selfish, because I'd want to be the man across from you, sharing dinner and dances."

Lisbon smiled, blushing slightly, and asked, "Really?"

"Really." Jane answered.

"Jane! You need to go!" Lisbon said, suddenly. "I have a ton of work to do, and now I'm going to have to leave early to get ready. . ."

"I'll meet you at home," Jane said. "Four 'o clock."

"Okay," Lisbon agreed. She pecked his cheek quickly. "I'll see you then."

**.**

"Tonight was lovely," Lisbon said, as she slipped out of her heels. "This was the best Valentine's day of my life." she stumbled a little bit, because she wasn't so high up.

"Just don't break your neck," Jane replied, picking her up bridal style. "You want lots of Valentine's days just like this one. Don't you?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Lisbon replied.

"Well, then, I insist you let me carry you to bed. You look exhausted."

"That's okay, I'm not an invalid." She didn't struggle though, she let him carry her to bed. . . it sealed her perfect day.

(Author's Note: This chapter was written to "Smile" by Uncle Kracker, because. . . at this point in the story, it describes Jane's feelings for Lisbon EXACTLY.)


	12. Chapter 12

_Okay. . . I am SO excited about how many reviews I got on last week's chapter(s) of this story. It made me giddy with excitement. Since there was so many reviews, I can't take the time to write them all out. If you reviewed my story though, you know who you are. And I want to thank you. You're awesome._

Chapter 13. Sick Days and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman

Jane woke up early one morning and rolled over on his side. That's when he noticed Lisbon wasn't in bed. Puzzled, he got up and went in search for her. He put his slippers on and shuffled out to the living room. He found Lisbon wrapped up in blankets and holding a tissue. The television was on, and bathing her face in florescent light.

"Is everything okay?" Jane asked, leaning down beside her.

"I feel a little sick," Lisbon answered sleepily.

He put his wrist on her forehead, and then brushed his lips against it. "You have a fever."

"I know. It's a hundred degrees."

Jane lifted her blankets and situated her in his arms.

"You'll get sick too," Lisbon said.

Jane laughed. "I'll take my chances. What are you watching?"

"Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman," Lisbon answered.

"I haven't watched this show in ages," Jane said. "What's happening?"

"Well, Dr. Mike is in Boston," Lisbon explained, shifting to get comfortable in his arms. "Her mother's sick. . . and Sully followed her, because he had a dream. . . or something like that. And there's this other guy, a doctor. He has feelings for Mike. Sully heard him propose, and he ran away. Now Mike's followed him to the train station and asked him why he even came to Boston. He didn't answer her right away, but she demanded it. So, he told her that it was because he loved her. Then the train started to move, and she fell into his arms. But nothing happened; she didn't confess her feelings for him. . . or kiss him, or anything. She just left—"

"And?" Jane asked anxiously.

"She's returning to Colorado," Lisbon answered. "Where, I can tell you with great authority, she will tell him that she loves him and kiss him."

"But the episode isn't finished yet. How do you know that?"

"This is one of my favorite episodes," Lisbon said. "I have this season on DVD, and I watch this one over and over again."

"Oh."

She rested her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and sighed. "I'm so tired."

"Sleep now, it'll make you feel better."

"But I want to see them get together," Lisbon murmured.

"You know what happens," Jane said. "They get together, you told me so yourself."

"Yeah, but it's always nice to see it happen." She didn't finish her thought, in a matter of seconds, she was sound asleep.

**.**

"Jane?" She said a couple of hours later as he carried her back to bed.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I love you. I really, really love you."

Jane's heart stopped, and then rapidly sped up. "You're dreaming. Go back to sleep."

Lisbon laughed. "If this is a dream, then don't wake me up. Because I love you. . . and everything feels right."

He put her into bed and kissed her forehead gently. He knew the truth, it was only her fever talking. In the morning, or in a couple of days, she would forget that she had ever said anything.


	13. Chapter 13

14. Blowing it May 5th, 2011

"Guess what's coming up," Jane said one morning over breakfast.

"I don't know," Lisbon answered, even though she did know what was coming up. She just wanted him to be the first one to say it. She set a bowl of _Cream of Wheat_ in front of him.

"Come on," Jane prodded.

"Eat your breakfast."

He took a huge bite. "MMH. . . delicious. You make great _Cream of Wheat_."

Lisbon sat down across from him with a cup of coffee and sighed. "So, what's coming up?"

"Where's your breakfast?" Jane asked, instead of answering her. "Here, open up."

"Why?"

He put a spoonful of his cereal in her open mouth, and smiled at her. "Eat some breakfast."

She returned his smile. "Fine. We can share."

He shielded his bowl protectively. "Get your own hot cereal.

"I don't think so." She stuck her fingers in the bowl, but instead of licking them, she smeared it all over his face.

"No fair!" Jane said.

Lisbon smirked. "Who said anything about being fair?"

"Apparently, you never went to school," Jane said, taking a handful of the _Cream of Wheat _and rubbing it all over her face.

"That was totally. . . _unfair_!" Lisbon squealed.

Fake fear filled Jane's feature's and he got to his feet, putting his hand out to protect his face. "Don't hit me Lisbon! I didn't actually think it was you!"

"No mercy!" She replied, jumping on his back as he started to run.

He struggled to get her off his back, but she held on all the tighter when he did that. A few minutes later, they landed on their living room couch, laughing and trying to talk at the same time.

Finally, Lisbon looked at Jane, all of the playfulness gone from her features. She whispered, "I know what's coming up."

"We've almost been married for a year," Jane said quietly.

Lisbon chewed her finger for a moment, then she looked back to him. "We can. . . we can stay married for another year, if you'd like."

"Another year of torture?" Jane asked. "_No_. But thank you for the offer anyways."

Lisbon stood, and tried to control her emotions, the fact that she wanted to break down and sob. The fact that she had hoped Jane would have said, _I don't want to stay married for another year. . . I want to stay married to you for the rest of our lives_. She took a deep breath and reached for her jacket. And with quiet control , she said, "Well, I'm sorry that I made your life so miserable for the past twelve months. You'll have the annulment papers before tomorrow."

Jane cringed as she stalked out the front door and slammed the door behind her. He didn't need to be a Mentalist to know that he had probably just blown his last chance with her.

TBC. . .


	14. Chapter 14

_All I can say is WOW! I got an incredible amount of reviews between Wednesday and today. Thank you SO much to each and every one of you. You made me smile so big. I wish I could name all of you by name, but that would take up way too much time and space. So, if you reviewed. . . you know who you are. And I'm sending you all a huge cyber hug. Oh, and I can't not forget all of the incredible people who took the time to read my story, then favorite it. . . and put it on story alert. Or put me on author alert. Thank you for that too. _

_I am editing this chapter to a song called "Still Hurting" and "the Next Ten Minutes" from a one-act Broadway play called "the Last Five Years". The music is SO gorgeous, and the story heart-breakingly beautiful. I strongly recommend it tall of you._

* * *

**14. "Stay With Me Forever?"**

"Lisbon!" Jane shouted, bolting into her office, an hour later. He knew, he needed to find her and make things right again. "Teresa? Where are you?"

"Jane, she hasn't come in today," Van Pelt said, coming into the office. "She called and said that she had some things that needed to be done before tomorrow. Do you know what that means?"

Jane didn't answer her, he barely said goodbye to the girl before dashing to the elevator as fast as feet could take him. He drove, not caring about speed limits, he needed to get to Lisbon and stop her before she did something that they'd both regret for the rest of their lives.

.

"Teresa!" Jane yelled, entering his house. . . _their _house and throwing his keys on the hall table. "_Teresa_?"

"I'm in the bedroom!" She yelled back, her voice muffled.

He slowed his steps, but then bolted up the stairs, three at a time. He didn't want to waste another second. He burst into the bedroom, and found her surrounded by suitcases and boxes. Desperation filled him, he couldn't just let her go. He went over to her and pulled her up to her feet. "Teresa. . . "

"Jane, what are you doing?" Her eyes were filled with hurt, her cheeks tear-stained.

He didn't answer her, he pressed his lips to her's repeatedly, murmuring her name with adoration. He brushed his lips against her ear. "Don't go. Please don't go."

Her tears got caught in her throat. "But Jane, you said that being married to me was torture."

"I didn't mean it that way," Jane answered, earnestly. "This past year, has been the best year of my life. I love being married to you. I just said it was torture, because I didn't know if you felt the same way I felt about you."

"What?" Lisbon asked, she sounded like she was trying to remind herself how to breathe.

"Wait here," Jane said, letting her go reluctantly. "I'll be right back."

He hurried to their study, opened the safe and took out the wooden ring box. He opened it and looked at the starfish engagement ring.

"_It's time_," Angela's voice once again filled his head.

He nodded, took the engagement ring out, and snapped the box shut, throwing it on his desk. He hurried back to Lisbon as fast as he could. She was sitting on their bed, absent-mindedly running her fingers over the purple velvet duvet. He knelt down in front of her and took her hand. "I have a story to tell you."

"A story?" Lisbon asked, her confusion written all over her face.

He slipped the ring on her finger. "Once upon a time, there was a lonely, screwed up, desperate man. He had lost everything that was important to him; he had lost everybody that was important to him. One day, this man was so desperate. . . he tried to take his own life. It didn't work. One day though, he met a beautiful detective. And she was his wake up call. He found himself feeling things for her, he thought had completely died.

"He never would tell her though. He was too afraid that he'd lose her. And after an encounter with a certain man, his fear of losing her grew stronger. Finally, this person was caught, and our hero was ready to tell the detective how he felt about her. But it was too late. He had been cowardly, so she had moved on. . . she had found somebody new. And then, fate threw him a chance. And she was practically his. But. . . she still didn't know about how the man felt. And. . . even though this man was known to be very perceptive, he didn't know how she felt about him. I mean, it had seemed that she loved the other man. And then, he stopped caring that he was her second choice. He began to love her even more and more. And he wanted to keep her with him for the rest of his life. Lisbon. . . Teresa, that man was me. And the woman was you. Will you stay with me forever? Will you marry me again? And this time, for real?"

She looked at the ring, stunned. Her face was covered in tears, and she pushed her hair behind her ear. "Jane. . . where did you get this?"

"When we were in Hawaii, I bought it for you," Jane replied. "I was going to give it to you when I got back to the hotel, but you and Shani had run into Emmett. . . so, I didn't think it was the best time."

"Oh Jane. . . I was so blind then. . . I'm so sorry—" She stopped. "Wait, that's the day you're wedding ring went missing. Did you—"

"The night before," he answered. "I went and threw it into the ocean. . . then I asked Angela for my heart back, and I gave it to you. Except, this past year, I've realized. . . you've had my heart from the day I first met you."

She wrapped her fingers around his hand, she squeezed her eyes shut, and new tears spilled over onto her cheeks. "Once upon a time, there was a lonely, screwed up woman. She had closed herself off completely to love. And then she met an incredible man. . . he was scarred, and disappointed by life. But for the first time in her life, she knew love. She knew pure love. She allowed herself to feel things she had closed herself off to when she was twelve-years-old. When it didn't seem that he returned her feelings, she was crushed. She found the next best thing though. It turned out that, he wasn't the next best thing. The best thing, had always been there. She didn't see that right away, she was embarrassed that another relationship hadn't worked out. But luckily, he was there. . . willing to save her one more time—"

"Willing to save her for the rest of her life."

Lisbon looked back at the ring, and nodded. "I will marry you again. Jane. . . Patrick, I love you."

"I love you too," Jane said. "I love you so much."

Lisbon leaned down and kissed him in reply. It was the only thing that she could think of to do.

**TBC. . .**

And Now, I tell you with a bit of sadness in my heart, the next chapter I post will be my last chapter. But I have a couple of things planned, like posting my favorite stories from 2010. The ones that I didn't get to post this year, and a Christmas story. Plus, I'm working on a story where Jane and Lisbon actually meet as college students. Nothing I really want to talk about it, because I'm kind of superstitious when it comes to my writing, and I don't want to jinx it.

Please read & review. As you can tell, your feedback is greatly appreciated. And to my friend, E. . . who's reading this story, I take non-user reviews. :D


	15. Chapter 15

_Well, we've come to the end of the story. I want to thank all of you for reviewing my story. . . this story. It made me smile, and sometimes it made me laugh out loud. Your support for a couple that I support like they're real. Thank you everybody. I LOVE you all SO much. This last chapter is dedicated to everybody who read, reviewed, and favorited this story. __Tonight, I am also going to start posting my favorite stories I wrote this year. I am still working on the college story. It doesn't even have a name yet, but it will. Hopefully you won't be disappointed with it when it ends. And I am thinking about a little five chapter sequel about Van Pelt watching Jane and Lisbon, and hoping for something just like it. There will be Rigsby, of course. Tell me if you like the idea._ _Oh, and lastly this chapter was edited to "the Next Ten Minutes" from the Last Five Years. Sad play, beautiful song. The original chapter was written to by "Right Back to Where We Started From" by Maxine Nightangle._

* * *

15. "Right Back to Where We Started From"

_July 10__th__, 2011_

It was their first year anniversary, and the day that they were getting married to each other for real. It was a day untainted by desertions, forced marriages, and promises of an annulment in a year. It was a day with programs, and a planned honeymoon, and a first dance to _Right Back Where We Started From_ with Daisy squished between them and a tiny baby bump forming under Lisbon's silver sheath dress, it was a baby that had been conceived the day it's parents had confessed their feelings for each other finally. It was a day with their family and friends joining them on the dance floor for their first dance.

It was the day that Jane went from being the Substitute Husband to being a permanent fixture in Lisbon's life.

**_The End_**

Sorry for the short ending, but when it came down to it. . . I thought that shorter was better. That it would be a little more powerful than anything long and mushy and flowery. I hope you agree.

Love,

Holly


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